Wronged Man
by The Author's Mighty Pen
Summary: John Bates, Army Captain, is on trial for the murder of Vera Bates.
1. Railroaded

He raised an eyebrow at the guard standing in front of his cell. "Yes?"

"You've got a visitor Bates."

"Do I?" He sat up, stretching, and walked to the door. He threaded his hands through the space and waited for the distinct, familiar, embrace of the metal cuffs over his wrist. Once there he stepped back, waiting for the door to open, and followed the directions of the guard to the visitor's room.

Except there was no one in there but a tall, dark-haired woman. She had her arms crossed and, even from a distance, appeared less than impressed by her surroundings. When the guard called out to her she turned and set her jaw in almost resignation.

"This is him?"

He snorted, "Thanks very much."

"He's who you asked for." The guard nudged him toward the seat.

"Yes but I expected he wouldn't look like a lorry ran him over." She sniffed, "And have you offered him a shower since he came here."

The guard ignored her. "You've got an hour. No more."

"I know how much time I need, thank you." She shooed the guard away before gingerly taking her seat, sitting on the least amount of space as possible. "I'm not a fan of this particular meeting place."

"Well, DI Crawley, I believe you're the one who put me here so it's a little late for regrets on that account." He held up his handcuffed wrists, "I've acquired a new collection of jewelry though if you're looking for suggestions."

"No, thank you, and you can lose the smartass attitude Mr. Bates."

"Should I have my lawyer present for this?" He looked around, "I don't want to be caught in a surprise interrogation like last time."

"That's not why I'm here."

"Then why bother coming if you're not your boss's attack dog."

She sighed, "I'm here because I want to fix this."

"Which part?" Mr. Bates rolled his shoulders back. "The part where I got railroaded or the part where you arrested me and had your Silks get the judge to deny me bail?"

"That wasn't me." She held up a finger, "That was my boss. They wanted a closed case and now they think they have it."

"With me showing my face in front of a judge in prison scrubs to turn the jury against an obviously guilty man?" Mr. Bates scoffed, "They've got it right in the bag from where I sit."

"But they don't have to."

Mr. Bates raised an eyebrow, "You're not here to beat a confession out of me are you?"

"No." She leaned forward. "I'm here to help you if you're willing."

"Help me?"

"Help you get out of your prison scrubs and back to your life."

He shook his head, "That's the thing. They don't tend to take you back to the Army once you've served some time in another division… like corrections."

"We both know you're not really in the Army anymore." DI Crawley laughed a little, shaking her head. "If you were in the Army then getting your records wouldn't have been like pulling teeth and we wouldn't have had to read around black redaction lines."

"I'm still in the Army."

"Suit yourself." She raised her hands in surrender. "I came here as a friend and I could use a bit less antagonism to that effect."

"We're not friends."

"You're friends with my father and while I'm getting undue pressure from the head of CPS on this-"

"Is it still Carlisle?"

DI Crawley gritted her teeth. "Yes."

"Is he still a wanker?"

"That depends. Do you consider him ignoring all my requests about this case because I broke off our engagement the actions of a wanker?"

"Usually."

"Then yes, he is." She took a breath, "That's why I'm here. I don't think you're getting a fair shake and, as the closest thing you've got to a relative, I'm here to help you."

"You can't. Not unless you want to lose the job your father fought so hard against you having."

"That's why I'm not… at least, directly." She slid a card over the table and he picked it up. "That's a friend of mine. "She's a former Silk so she knows how they run."

"When she get out?"

"Before Carlisle came in and put his stamp on it all. She turned private after the Green case." Mr. Bates looked up and DI Crawley nodded. "That's right John. She's the one you're thinking."

"Why leave after that? She built her best reputation on putting that terrorist away."

"One tends to leave the cases that leave one emotionally and physically shattered." DI Crawley stood up, "I've told her to visit you on the next go round so she'll be here tomorrow. If you can, do your best to act politely toward her."

"I'm always polite Mary."

"Not to me."

"You put me in these." John held up his hands. "What do I need to know about her since she'll have everything you've got to give her on me?"

"Be honest with her. She hates a liar, even for the best intentions. She also hates self-flagellating martyrs so you'll have to curb back that instinct."

"Right." He rolled his eyes before focusing on her. "How's Robert?"

"In pieces about this. He wouldn't speak to me or Tom for a week."

"It's not like you didn't deserve it."

She scowled, "I did my job, John, as you did."

"I was a sniper Mary. That was different."

"You could've gotten him out." Her eyes rolled tears to the edge but she kept control of her emotions. "You saw it and did nothing."

"That's a lie and you know it. The report clearly stated that three of his attackers went down with my bullets through their brains. I didn't see the last man Mary." John stopped, clenching a fist to keep his hand from shaking. "I didn't see the last man Mary. I had him covered from my position but I couldn't see the last man."

They stayed silent for another minute before Mary, wiping at her eyes, finally spoke. "She'll be here in two days. Don't waste this John."

"I won't." He stood, the guard coming closer to take him back to his cell. "Thank you, Mary, for doing this. You didn't have to."

"I know I didn't. But I needed to. For Matthew and my father if for nothing else."

"Was there something else?"

She took a deep breath, "For me. This case ran you over and you've done nothing to deserve that. My conscience demanded this."

"I hope you don't regret it."

"Hardly." She waved him off, "Until next time Mr. Bates."

"Until next time DI Crawley."


	2. First Interview

She frowned at the file, making a note to the side with her pen. The car pulled to a halt and she tucked the file into her briefcase, closing and grabbing her jacket off the set next to her. A mechanical whirring brought her attention to the partition between she and the driver.

"We're here, Ms. Smith."

"Thank you Pratt. I'll be an hour. Maybe two at the most." She opened the door, pulling one arm through her jacket sleeve before managing the switch between hands with her briefcase to get her arm through the other. "I'll call you five minutes before I come out so you can be here waiting."

"Yes ma'am."

Ms. Smith walked to the guardhouse, showed her ID, and stepped back for the gate to open before she entered the dauntingly high walls of the prison. She rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck as she adjusted her briefcase, and proceeded toward the main doors. The opened like wide jaws to receive her and for a brief moment she considered turning back.

Walking to the visiting room subjected her to the stares of the guards but she ignored them, focusing instead on her goal while she was there. One of the guards pointed her to a table and she put her briefcase on it, popping the catches to open it, before pulling out the relevant information. It took orderly position on the tabletop as she sat on the stool bolted to the floor to wait.

Less than a minute later a door at the other end of the room opened and she looked up. If not for her overwhelming professionalism she was convinced her jaw would have hit the table before ricochet back to her head at the sight of him. She settled for a swallow and a shift on her stool as the guard handcuffed him to the table before taking position far enough away to stay out of their conversation but quickly intervene should that be necessary.

She studied him. Watched how his shoulders settled back, holding his head high. How the fading bruises on his face only added to his character to match the defensive wounds on his hands. How his eyes narrowed to take her in the same way she did him, flicking occasionally to the folder with his name on it before meeting her eyes again.

And his eyes.

All reason seemed to flee when she lost herself in her inspection of those orbs. The soul there that spoke of a poet, a philosopher, a quiet strength, a deadly precision, and a loyal man. The soul that could not have killed his wife with a poisoned pie.

His voice roused her from the all-consuming analysis and brought her back to the present. "It's normally the practice, in such situations, for you to say something."

"Is it?" She laughed, "Find yourself on the wrong side of tables like this a few too many times?"

"In many countries with many different languages… not to mention my own." He pulled at the cuffs a bit, "Though they didn't cuff me to the table when DI Crawley visited yesterday."

"They probably thought she could defend herself against you, given her training." Ms. Smith flipped the folder open, reading a few things before looking back at him. "But we both know different, don't we Mr. Bates?"

"I'm curious what you think you know, Miss."

"It's Smith and I don't know if you remember this." She pulled an article from the file and passed it over the table. "Because I remember that day very well."

Mr. Bates snorted, "I know who you are. DI Crawley was kind enough to tell me you're now a private lawyer after you wrapped the Green case." He tapped the article, "Though this was before you tied them all up nicely for the jury. A little early for you to use as a personal reference."

"I didn't say it had anything to do with me, though I was there." She breezed over his wide-eyed surprise. "I used it to find out more about you."

"Me?"

"Don't think I don't remember, Mr. Bates. You were there, at Downton Primary, trying to talk down that very same terrorist so he didn't set off his suicide vest." His eyes grew wider and she nodded, "Now you remember."

"You were the one he used as a body shield."

"I was." Ms. Smith closed her eyes a moment before calming herself. "It's also why I left after I closed that case."

"Did a number on you did it?"

"One doesn't usually expect to be almost blown to pieces when they go to collect their nephew from school."

Mr. Bates stared at her, "I didn't think your sister had children."

"She doesn't." Ms. Smith paused, her eyes narrowing. "Can I assume, by your statement, that you've gone to considerable trouble to research me as well as I did you?"

"Perhaps better that you did but I've resources I don't think you have."

"Don't underestimate what I've got at my disposal." Ms. Smith pulled the article back, "But I'd think your work with Black Mountain would make a rather significant difference in what you could dig up on me."

"What's 'Black Mountain'?"

Ms. Smith smiled at the control on his face and in his body. "I won't go into detail here, where who knows who could be listening. And since I don't want to end up vanishing off the face of the island when I'm here to help you I think I'll dodge that question in favor of another."

"Which would be what?"

"Do you, John Bates, accept my firm as your legal representation?" Ms. Smith made sure John met her eyes, "It'll get the ball rolling and actually light the right fires under the right asses for this case to proceed."

"I know what it'll do and while I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that DI Crawley called her friend to help me I'm not sure what you can do for me."

"Despite getting your bail money so you're no longer toting injuries like those?" She pointed to his face and hands. "I'd imagine that might be worth something to you."

"It's worth more if you tell me why you agreed to take my case when the world's convinced I'm a jealous husband who poisoned my wife's food to watch her writhe in slow agony on the floor before calling the police."

Ms. Smith straightened, focusing on his eyes again, and pursed her lips. "I took this case because I don't believe that's true, Mr. Bates."

"Please call me 'John'." He tried to rub at his face with a hand but the cuffs stopped him. "It'll make me feel more human if you use my Christian name."

"Alright, John," She waited, noting how his shoulders relaxed a bit. "I took this case because I don't believe you killed your wife."

"It's more than that." He gave a bitter, half-laugh. "There are people out in the world with shirts reading 'Free Bates' that don't believe I'm guilty either but they didn't go through the gauntlet to get in here and offer their legal services on my behalf."

"You're right, I did." Ms. Smith collected her things before interlacing her fingers to lean forward over the table. "I took this case because I owe you my life, John, and I intend to get yours back for you."

"Owe me your life?"

"Yes. When Green took me hostage and trapped me in the kitchen I had no means of escape. I wasn't armed, I didn't have the training I needed to free myself, and I wasn't ready to die. I was so frightened that I almost pissed myself and I'm more surprised to think I didn't. Even now, two years later."

"I wouldn't've begrudged you if you did."

"But you," Ms. Smith pointed at him, "You stayed calm. You trailed us, talking to him the whole time. You spoke to his cause, you relaxed him, and in the moment you knew you had him you drew your gun and fired. No hesitation, no waver, nothing but collected intent."

"It was practice."

"It was my life, John, and you saved it."

"I wanted to save him too." John hung his head, "I wanted to get him the help he needed. He was an abused man manipulated by a group that didn't give anymore of a shit about him than anyone else ever did."

"And I think that's noble."

"It's not enough."

"It gave him peace, John."

"Peace enough to lock himself in that freezer and blow the vest." John's voice snapped but Ms. Smith did not budge. "I talked that man to his death."

"It was on his terms, John." Ms. Smith sighed, "I'm not a therapist so this isn't the kind of conversation we need to have now. If you need someone to talk to then I can get you that kind of help."

"Help?"

Ms. Smith paused, "I hope you're not about to disappoint me with some discussion on how men don't have feelings or something else ridiculously toxic about your masculinity."

"No," He shook his head, "I was just surprised you'd offer."

"I'm your lawyer now… if you want." She pulled a paper from her file and passed it over with a pen, "For one quid to start you can have me on retainer too."

"One quid?"

"The prices I set for my time are up to me."

John picked up the pen and signed before nudging both it and the paper back as much as he was able in his restraints. "How can I refuse one quid? There's one in the pocket of the pants they took when they forced me into these clothes if you can get them to give it to you."

"We'll worry about that once you're actually walking around outside shall we?" Ms. Smith arranged the paper and tucked it back in the folder before settling her stack again. "Now, about your bail."

"What about it?"

"They've got you on a particularly steep curve since your military experience and history label you a flight risk."

"And?"

"Are you willing to surrender your passport and your other credentials so you can't leave the country?"

John laughed, "They'll take my identity to make sure I can't go anywhere?"

"They'll take your life if you let them." Ms. Smith opened her hands to him, "This all gets easier if I don't have to pass through four layers of security to see you."

"Then I'm willing."

"Good." Ms. Smith stood, pulling her briefcase onto the table. "Then the next time we meet you'll be back in your normal clothes and released to my custody."

"Will I?" John snorted, "I don't think you've got that kind of power."

"Don't underestimate me."

"I'll try not to again." His jaw flexed and she stopped putting the folder and other papers away. "I've a question I don't know if you want to answer."

"Ask it and find out." Ms. Smith closed the briefcase. "Please, I hate holding out for something unless I'm playing a bondage game."

He choked but regained his composure. "What were you doing at Downton Primary that day anyway?"

"I was picking up Mary's son, George, so she could finish arranging everything for Matthew's funeral."

"Then you know how he died?"

"He's how I know Black Mountain exists, John." Ms. Smith checked her watch, "I'd better go, before I spook the natives."

"One more question?" She raised an eyebrow and he coughed, "May I call you by your Christian name?"

"Any particular reason?"

"I find it easier to compliment someone when you don't have to make it sound professional."

Ms. Smith laughed, "Yes, I imagine it would. And seeing as the last time we had a chance to exchange names neither of us was really in a fit state for it I'd say we've more than earned that level of intimacy."

"I'd hope so."

"It's Anna. Anna Smith." Anna smiled a bit to herself, "But your research already told you that."

"It doesn't hurt to be polite."

"No, John, I don't think it does." Anna shrugged, "In other situations I'd shake your hand at this point but I think your friends in the corner would frown on that."

"They'd take a particular umbrage to it, yes." John went to stand but the restraints stopped him. "But I'll take the thought as action, in this case."

"That's enough for me." Anna nodded at him, "Until your release, John."

"Until then."

She took her case, walking back out the doors, and aimed for the entrance. Her mobile filled her hand in a moment, checking her missed messages before sending the requisite alert to Pratt to bring the car around. He pulled up just as she exited the large gate and had the door open for her so she could just slide in.

"Thank you Pratt. Back to the office I think."

"Not home ma'am?"

"No," Anna dialed a number, "I've got too much work to do."


	3. The Right Person for the Job

John blinked in the sunlight, raising a hand to stop it until he remembered the feeling in his breast pocket were his sunglasses. He flicked them out, immediately placing them over his eyes, and could almost taste the relief to his vision. He caught sight of Anna Smith waiting outside a nice car on the other side of the road and moved toward her.

"What a ride, Ms. Smith," He pointed to it. "It goes well with your miracle."

"Which miracle?"

"The one where you got me out on bail."

"It's not without its restrictions." Anna opened the door, "But, for now, you're free and that's what matters most."

"All business all the time then?" John joked but Anna only shrugged it off before joining him in the back seat.

"Not all the time. I let loose when I celebrate a victory but not before."

"Then Mary picked the right person for the job."

"She did what she could." Anna handed over a packet of papers. "Sign on all the indicated lines there and you'll not have an ankle monitor."

"Ankle monitor?" John flipped through the pages, reading quickly, "They already have my passport, military credentials, and other forms of identity. What more could they possibly want from me?"

"They know you're a smart man and that you're not without your resources."

"I'm just a Captain in the Army."

Anna laughed, "I'm not an idiot so we both know that's not true."

"You don't believe me."

"I've been friends with Mary Crawley for most of my adult life and a decent bit of my adolescence as well. I was there when she met Matthew and so I know what he did for a living." Anna turned to him, "The same living you made before the Met took you in under suspicion."

"Locked me up for it too." John held his hand out and Anna quickly placed a pen there. "But that's neither here nor there now."

"Not exactly." Anna leaned forward, tapping on the window, "Location three Pratt."

"Yes ma'am."

"Location three?"

"It's a neutral area where you'll be safe."

"Safe." John snorted, finishing his signatures before handing the packet back to her. "If you know what I do for a living you'd know that's not a place that'll ever exist for me."

"Then we'll pretend for now that there is such a place."

John settled back in the seat, "What do you really know about Black Mountain?"

"I know they recruited you from the Army after you excelled as a sniper there. I also know that it's a task force bridging MI6 and MI5 but they don't like to talk about it." Anna checked the packet before tucking it back into her briefcase. "I also know that they've been watching my flat since I agreed to take this case."

"They're watching your flat?"

Anna nodded, "A lovely man knocked on the door yesterday to introduce himself when he heard I got you bail."

"Who?"

"A Mr. Henry Talbot. Car enthusiast and all around decent chap I think." Anna shrugged, "We had tea for a bit. Had no end of nice things to say about you."

"Did he?"

"Of course. I doubt many people say horrible things about you."

"Except those who think I killed my wife."

"Then we'll keep those people out of our lives. Ah," Anna opened the door, "We're here."

John followed her out of the car and raised an eyebrow at the building. "This isn't anything particularly out of the way."

"Best place to hide anything is in plain sight, Mr. Bates." Anna walked up the steps, turning a key in the door before directing him inside. "Make yourself comfortable."

John made his way inside the flat and laughed. Books crammed every available space while a bit of space held a flat screen and a cot in the corner. He turned to Anna, "This is my flat."

"Not technically. Your address, where you lived with your now deceased wife, is still a crime scene. This is our best recreation of your quarters in that space."

"How'd you know what my quarters looked like?"

"I've access to the photos of the scene." Anna rested herself on the arm of a sagging settee. "I'm still trying to locate a few things to finish the redecorations but, for now, this'll have to do."

"What are the limits of my bail?"

"You can't leave the country, obviously, and you've got to show up for regular check-ins with either myself or with the DIs on your case."

"Still DI Crawley and DI Branson?"

"Yes." Anna stood, pulling at her skirt, "Otherwise you're to stay here."

"As wonderful as this particular location is," John gestured his open hand to it, "And I'm impressed you replicated by collection with such accuracy, but I can't stay here."

"You can and you will."

"I've just got out of one cage. I won't be hemmed in here by another."

"Who said anything about you being hemmed in?" Anna crooked her finger at him, leading him to a door in the hall. She opened it, flicking a switch on the wall, and then took the stairs down. John followed her, ducking his head at the bottom, and gaped at what lay before him. "This is freedom John."

There, in the basement of his borrowed flat, was a gun range. Next to it sprawled a training area with mats, weights, and a few machines. John touched them, testing the materials. He turned back to Anna, "This is why Henry visited, isn't it?"

"He said you'd need ways to burn off your excess energy and I agreed. Since you can't show your face about except for scheduled excursions all supervised by me, then you need something to keep you fighting fit." Anna walked to the edge of the mats. "Mr. Talbot'll stopping by twice a week for your physical training and he's arranged for Mr. Pelham to help get you back up to speed with your other work."

"Bertie?"

"Something above my head in terms of secrecy and black tape or something." Anna pointed just beyond the equipment to a station with another flat screen, two computers, and various other office supplies. "He'll arrange a schedule with you this afternoon at my office and then you'll keep to it."

"I don't say no to Bertie." John tried to find words but could only brush his hair back with his hand. "I don't know what to say."

"Then say nothing. My job is to keep you out of trouble and if this is what it takes then this is what I'll do."

"No one's ever done this for me."

"Technically you should be thanking the lovely gentlemen at Black Mountain then because they're the ones who arranged all this."

"Brothers to the end."

"Is that some kind of motto?"

"It's a lifestyle." John hefted one of the weights, catching Anna's reaction out of the corner of his eye. "See something you like, Ms. Smith?"

"Depends." She shrugged, "I've met one too many testosterone junkies at one too many gyms to do more than pause when I see a weight."

"Why's that?"

"You never know what someone's going to do with one." She walked next to him, tapping one, "I once prosecuted a case when a man took one of these weights and broke open his wife's head with it before spraying the brains of her lover all over the living room."

"What?"

"He found out she cheated on him. At least that's what he said." Anna stroked the weight a moment, lost in the memory. "Turns out the poor boy was her younger, half-brother come for a visit. He came in a first class seat and left in a body bag."

"What happened to the husband?"

"Well, when the wife suffered severe brain damage and the boy died he was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

"He get the noose?"

"He got parole after seven years and now works a shipyard in Liverpool." Anna scoffed, "Heard he even managed to get himself a new girlfriend and a gym membership."

"So you're afraid of these?" John pointed to the weights but Anna shook her head.

"I'm afraid of what people do when they let their passions rule their reason, Mr. Bates." Anna tapped one, "These are just tools, like anything else, and they don't mean anything until they're used for the wrong purposes."

"You think I'll use them for the wrong purposes?"

"I don't know how you'll use them but I very much doubt you'll club in the skull of anyone with them."

"Because I'm a poisoner?"

"Because you're a sniper, Mr. Bates." Anna set her bag down, walking over to the gun selection and choosing one of the smaller rifles. She loaded it, setting it to her shoulder and took aim at a distance target. Flicking the setting to single shot she aimed and fired, lowering the weapon and stepping back. "There's precision in what you do. Calculation."

John joined her, taking the rifle from her hands and aiming. He fired as well before pressing the line to bring the target closer to them. Anna smiled when she only saw one hole.

Tapping at it she spoke again, "The man who could fire a bullet through the same hole as this is the kind of man who doesn't bash someone's brains in, doesn't poison his wife. This man is calm, controlled, and careful."

"Then you know I was filing for divorce?"

"I also know she'd stopped you for two years." Anna folded her arms over her chest, resting on the wall, "Why?"

"Vera never liked the idea of being on her own." John picked up the spent shells, stacking them on the little shelf before releasing the clip and popping the shell in the chamber free. "She didn't like what I did, didn't like that I found purpose beyond her, and didn't like that I had proof she'd been unfaithful to me. More than all that she didn't like that she couldn't spend my money any longer."

"Must've been harder for her when she found out she couldn't access your mother's trust." John turned to Anna, almost missing setting the rifle back on the rack. "I do my research."

"Is that what you did?"

"I know your job has a healthy bit of suspicion to it, Mr. Bates, but I'd prefer you not allow that to cloud your judgment." Anna pulled out her phone, "We need to get going. Mr. Pelham's waiting at the office and we've still got other details of your bail to discuss."

"One question," Anna stopped on the stairs as John leaned on the railings at the bottom, "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"I went to school with Mary Crawley."

"Didn't answer the question." John walked up a stair toward her, digging his hands into his trouser pockets. "How'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"Rabbit hunting with my father when I was young. Earned myself a scholarship to a very nice school in Whitby for shooting and, if you go there, you'll see a line of trophies with my name on them as well as a few school records as yet unbroken."

"And you're claiming that you weren't armed the day you went to collect George Crawley from school and got yourself abducted?" John stood a step lower than her but their eyes were level. "That doesn't seem right."

"I didn't walk into that school thinking I was about to be abducted by a terrorist."

"But you weren't scared." John pointed a finger at her, "I remember that day very well and while I didn't know your name I know the look in people's eyes. I know the face they make when they're scared. And while you told everyone you were terrified, even told me, I know you weren't."

"And how do you know that, Mr. Bates?" Anna's voice was barely a whisper as John risked a finger to trace along her jaw.

"Because you're not terrified now either."

"Why should I be?"

"Even if I didn't kill my wife you still gave me access to all this. You let me get this close to you. You're taking a risk here with someone trained to kill you and you're not even shaking."

"You didn't kill your wife."

"Doesn't mean I haven't killed other people."

Anna straightened, "Mr. Bates, if you wanted to kill me I'd already be dead."

"That's why you're not nervous?"

"No," Her eyes flicked down and then back up, "I'm not nervous because I know the difference between someone who wants to kill me and someone who wants to kiss me."

"Do you?"

"You're not the only one who served their country." Anna turned around, "Royal Marines, five years."

"Not as good as the Army."

"I'd beg to differ." Anna opened the door at the top, "It'll be rude to keep Mr. Pelham waiting when he's come all this way."

John grinned and followed Anna up the stairs.


	4. We're Getting an Acquittal

Anna frowned through the glass, watching John speak to another man at the table in her office. A tap on the shoulder startled her but Anna smiled, accepting the cup from a thinner woman with a quiet voice. "They've commandeered your office."

"They were speaking in Hindi anyway so me being in there was useless." Anna turned to the woman, "What about his case Phyllis?"

"I know Mr. Moseley's more than happy to take it on but I don't think I could replace your work on it."

"Most of my work's been convincing Mr. Bates that we're on his side. Everything else is just destroying State's evidence against him and we can do that."

"I don't know if we have enough reasonable doubt."

"Then we need to find people who'll help us with that." Anna pointed through the glass, "I don't even think he was in the country until the day after his wife's death."

"All records say he was."

"All the records we're allowed to see."

Phyllis shook her head, "If he worked a black project when his wife was killed then whatever details go along with it are so far above our heads we'd be sitting in prison for ten years for even discussing how to get it."

"One of their men is on trial for a murder we know he didn't commit." Anna waved a hand, "Someone's got to care enough about him to want to give us a good alibi."

"No one'd believe it."

"That's where you and Mr. Moseley need to figure out why they should." Anna sucked the inside of her cheek and turned away from her office. "I'll be back. There's someone I need to see."

"And what do we do when Mr. Bates finishes his discussion with Mr. Pelham?"

"Have him wait for me, if he's willing, and if he's not willing then have Mr. Moseley return him to his temporary house."

"You mean the one that has a shooting range in the basement?" Phyllis shook her head, pulling out her mobile to type something out quickly. "The one that might get some very interesting disturbance calls?"

"The exact same." Anna grabbed her purse and jacket, hurrying to the lift.

She took it to the parking garage and stood by a line of cars before walking toward one of the smaller, black cars. Climbing into the driver's seat she pressed a few buttons before the car phone dialed. With her hand on the passenger seat, Anna pulled out of the space to drive out of the garage.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Blake, it's Anna Smith." She smiled when she heard the silence on the line, "What? Are you not happy to hear my voice?"

"There's a bit of trepidation when the woman I owe a few big favors to decides to call me out of the blue."

"Should I text you instead?" Anna maneuvered her car through traffic, fitting through small spaces and taking shortcuts. "I'm driving so you'd be risking my life again to try and give you the information that way."

"That's not fair. I never invited you on those missions knowing we'd almost be killed."

"What else would you expect from your sources that sent my strike teams to attack your targets?"

"Are you calling because you want to detail how much I owe you or because you actually have a way for me to repay you?"

"Now that you mention it-" Anna grinned to herself, just missing being caught by a red light.

"Oh, have mercy on my soul."

"Now's not the time for religious sentiment."

"Isn't it?" Blake sighed on the other end of the line, "I'm assuming your call is just a formality and that you're on your way here right now yes?"

"No." Anna parked, exiting the car to stand in front of a man with dark hair who lowered his phone, "I'm already here."

"I can see that." He put the phone away, holding his hands out to her. "How can I help you?"

"I need a spook."

"Then you're in luck." He looked around, "But not here."

"I wouldn't have thought so." Anna followed Blake into the building, smiling at a few of the people there before joining Blake in the lift. "You've done well for yourself since you left the service of our government."

"I still serve Queen and country, Anna, the way you do." He tipped his head to the side, "Or did. You're no longer a silk, or so I heard."

"Don't pretend you're not informed on me just as much as I am on you." Anna laughed, removing her jacket and holding it in her hand. "You're a spook, Charles, and this is what you do."

"I have a feeling I won't like what you're about to ask me."

"You won't." Anna held up a finger to stop Charles opening his mouth further. "Not until we're in your office."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

Charles ushered Anna into his office, closing the door behind her and locking it. Anna took position on one of the leather couches while Charles sat on the other. He crossed his legs, smiling at her.

"What brings lieutenant Anna Smith to my office?"

"It's not anything as exciting as what brought me to your office in the past." Anna draped her jacket over the back of the sofa. "What do you know about John Bates?"

"Other than that he's on trial for the death of his wife?" Charles tipped his head from side to side. "I know you got him out on bail he didn't deserve but I also know you're a skilled orator so I shouldn't have been as surprised you convinced the QB to let you keep a skilled killer in your possession."

"I'm sure you know how I'm keeping him in my possession."

"I did hear something about a gun range."

"You do have a great many ears. It's a wonder you keep track of them all."

"Well, you know England's like the TARDIS: bigger than you think on the inside and yet smaller." Charles shifted on his seat, "Throw a rock here and you'll hit a town but every trip takes so much longer than you think it will."

"And you've got ears in every town?"

"It's easier now that everyone carries around a cell phone and we've got CCTV for eyes so my job's just about filtering through the deluge of information, not shifting through the lack of it."

"I'm not interested in what you've gotten from the Facebook accounts and Instagrams of people who want to send nudes for sex." Anna settled her elbows on her knees, "I need what you know about people who aren't as active in the sphere of pointless, personal advertisement."

"You mean people like me?" Charles took a deep breath, rubbing his hands together. "You do know what you're asking me to do, yes?"

"I know that the implications of publically acknowledging the conversation we're even having right now could have us both tossed into a very nasty hole for a very long time."

"But you ask anyway." Charles nodded, sucking the inside of his cheek before speaking again. "It's my greatest misfortune to tell you, officially, that I can't help you."

"I do hope the next thing you tell me is unofficial."

"I may have a friend or two willing to help me find Mr. Bates's more clandestine travel itineraries." Charles leaned toward Anna, lowering his voice. "But for all the eyes and the ears that I have, we both know the Crown has more and those who don't want John Bates's work known to the world won't give it up willingly."

"I'm not asking for what people are willing to give up." Anna narrowed her eyes, "I'm asking for those things we can take from them."

"You do know that what you're asking be done, in this case, puts us at odds with the government?"

"I'm saving a man the government abandoned to a charge someone in the echelons he supported knows is false."

"You think they're not helping him on purpose?"

"I think they're not helping him because they won't, not because they can't." Anna grabbed her jacket, "I'm asking you to give me the greatest weapon."

"Knowledge is your power."

"It's our power, Charles." She stood, "I can't thank you enough for meeting with me."

"Not sure I had a choice." Charles stood as well, walking Anna to the door. "Though I am curious why you decided to take this case on. I thought doing battle with agents of Richard Carlisle was beneath your dignity."

"What makes you say that?"

Charles scoffed, "You left the silks, after working so hard to get there, just to take them on in gladiatorial matches. If that doesn't reek of unresolved issues there I don't know what does."

"My personal frustrations with how Mr. Carlisle is driving the CPS into the ground have nothing to do with why I took this case."

"Then what prompted the great Anna Smith to help accused wife-killer John Bates?" Charles waited and then realization dawned. He smiled, shaking a finger at Anna. "Our Blessed Lady Mary."

"Is that why you agreed to this meeting?" Anna smirked at Charles's blush. "I knew she would've come to the same conclusion and called you."

"That's why you knew I wouldn't refuse your visit."

"No one refuses Mary." Anna took Charles's arm, holding it close as they walked back to the lift together. "I couldn't and neither can you so we're in this together."

"She might be getting us throw in prison for this."

"We're better than that Charles." Anna scoffed, feigning offense. "If we were that bad at our jobs she wouldn't have bothered with us."

"Maybe next time she won't." Charles walked Anna to the street, kissing both her cheeks. "Try to stay out of trouble you can't recover from."

"I've never been that safe in my life." Anna went to leave but Charles called out to her. She turned as he approached.

"I do have to wonder if it's not just about Mary coming to you as a friend and begging your assistance."

"What ulterior motive could I have?"

Charles raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't born yesterday and neither were you so let's not pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

"If you mean that investigation you're running into Black Mountain and whatever terrorist cell Green was a part of-"

"I do mean that and don't be difficult." Anna crossed her arms over her chest, "I know he's the one who saved you."

"So?"

"Are you trying to repay a debt to him?"

"Would it matter if I were?"

Charles barked a laugh, "Don't tell me you can honestly say that when people intend to repay something they don't go a little mad trying to do it."

"I don't get your point."

"After the conversation we just had upstairs about what we're risking even discussing how I'll help you I'll assume you said that for the eyes and ears keeping tabs on this conversation."

"Which you're having in broad daylight."

"Not everything can be done in the shadows." Charles took a breath, "Just promise me that you're not going to do something stupid to help this poor bastard out of his predicament."

"And if I were?"

"Then I commend your sense of honor before I make a huge jab at your stupidity. You know you can't help someone who works that deep in the black."

"Like I said," Anna shrugged, "We'll have to take the information we want."

"But Black Mountain? Anna…" Charles put his hands on his hips. "It's dangerous. He's dangerous."

"But he didn't kill his wife and he shouldn't go down for that just because he might have a personal file that's mostly redaction lines." Anna went to her car door. "Whatever research we've done, Charles, into what he does for a living isn't what's going to get him acquitted."

"Is that what you want?"

"He didn't do it and he shouldn't suffer for what he didn't do."

"Even though there are foreign governments that think there are things he should suffer for because he did do them?"

"Let someone else worry about that." Anna opened her door, "I'm a lawyer in this country and I'll do what I can for him here and now."

"Anna Smith investigates, is that it?"

"Sounds like a good crime serial." Anna closed the door, waving to Charles as she pealed her car away from the curb.

When she reached her offices Anna parked back in her same spot. As she got out of the car she jumped slightly, holding her chest when she saw the two individuals waiting for her. "It'd be nice if you gave me warning before scaring me."

"I assume you went to meet Charles." Mary immediately began, tucking her hands into her pockets. "I warned him you'd stop by."

"Sometimes it's crazy how alike we think."

"We've known each a long time, Anna." Mary fell in step with Anna as they went to the lifts. "I'd hazard to say I know you better than I know either of my sisters and I boast a far better relationship with you than either of them."

"Not sure you want to boast about that in front of your brother-in-law." Anna leaned over her, shaking the man's hand. "Nice to see you again Mr. Branson."

"Please, call me Tom."

"I would but you're both sporting your badges," Anna pointed to them and Mary shuffled in her jacket. "That means you're here on official business and I'm not about to disrespect officers of the law."

"We're not your enemies Anna."

"I know." Anna entered the lift, waiting for them to join her before hitting the button for the top of the building. "If you were you wouldn't have called me on Mr. Bates's behalf and I wouldn't have let you into the lift."

"It's a mess. The whole thing's a bloody, fecking mess."

"Based on the little evidence you have, which is only outweighed by the little evidence he has, I'd say it's going to come down to a slug fest over character testimonies in that courtroom." Anna eyed them both, "I hope you're not here to sniff out the competition."

"No, that's in Carlisle's hands now." Mary bit at her words, "He's got his lapdogs, O'Brien and Barrow, working co-counsel on this."

"Wonderful. Because who doesn't love a day when she's fighting Sarah O'Brien for scraps." Anna rolled her eyes, "I detested the woman when I worked with her and I detest her more now."

"Then beat her soundly, send Carlisle's dreams of getting some sort of commendation for this burning to ashes, and walk away with your well-earned victory."

"It's going to be hard fought."

Mary clicked her tongue against her teeth, "I've never known Anna Smith to back down from a fight."

"Who said I was backing down?" The lift doors opened and Anna led them out. "I was just warning you, this is going to get bloody."

"We'll keep at a safe distance." Mary held out a hand to the man walking toward them, John just behind him. "Mr. Pelham, it's been some time."

"That is has, Mrs. Crawley."

"It's DI Crawley in this instance." Mary cringed, turning to John. "We've got some questions for you."

"Then aren't we all a little more lucky that my lawyer is present?" John looked at Anna and she nodded. "Should we find a room for this?"

"By all means." Branson followed John right back into the room he just exited and Ann motioned Mary to join them as she caught Mr. Pelham.

"I just need a moment, Mr. Pelham."

"It's more than alright Ms. Smith, giving your expert care and attention to my colleague."

"I just wish your organization felt like they could give a touch more of it themselves." Anna waited as Mr. Pelham shuffled, toe dragging across the floor. "I know that what you do is none of my business and I personal don't care what it is that Mr. Bates does for you but if you want me to help your friend I'll need support."

"There's nothing I can give you."

"What would you give him?"

"If I could?" Mr. Pelham leaned in, lowering his voice. "A fake passport and money to start over somewhere no one wants to go looking for him."

"Because you think he's guilty?"

"Because there's no way to prove what we both know without getting us into trouble." Mr. Pelham drew back. "I know John Bates, worked and served with him for years now. He would no more kill his wife than he would betray his country."

"I can't prove that with character witnesses."

"And I can't give you the information you need without endangering my government."

"Is the worst part, for you Mr. Pelham, that Mr. Bates already knows this or that he's resigned himself to die because of it?"

"The latter, Ms. Smith." He nodded his head, "I hope we can meet again, though I doubt our circumstances will be much improved."

"I doubt that too." Anna shook his hand, "Thank you for what you are doing for him."

"I'd give my life for John. He's given his life for me more times than I can count and I don't want to."

"To count is to remember." Anna whispered and Mr. Pelham nodded. She met his eyes, "Some things are best left forgotten."

"Spoken like someone who knows suffering."

"I've seen war, Mr. Pelham, I know what it costs people."

"If only it wouldn't cost us John." Mr. Pelham snapped straight, "Good afternoon Ms. Smith."

"Good afternoon." Anna waited for him to get into the lift before joining John, Mary, and Branson in the room. "I do hope you're here for a deal with my client."

"We're here because the powers that be above us have decided to exert their pressure downwards." Mary interlaced her finger son the table between them as Anna took her seat next to John. "I've already over stepped my bounds in a massive way by speaking with John at the prison and then what I've done so far."

"I'm grateful you stuck your neck out for me." John added, keeping his hands visible on the table. "But I hope you're not here to gain my pity."

"I've stuck my neck out this far and I'm trying to make sure I don't get it cut off for my trouble." Mary sniped, "What Richard's doing is abhorrent and for as much as it threatens my position to say this, I want to do what I can to get you free."

"How?"

"By telling you that we don't have enough to convict you. Not enough to sway a jury with any brains that is." Branson shrugged a shoulder. "Carlisle's overstepped and he'll bite it hard if he fails on this gamble."

"I've seen this work before though." Anna worked her jaw, "He wouldn't dare this if he didn't have an ace in the hole that we haven't seen."

"I'm smart enough to know the evidence we have is inconclusive." Mary argued but Anna silenced her.

"And I'm not an idiot. He's playing something close to the vest and I won't let it burn us." She stood, "Thank you, for the warning, but I need to prepare my client and I wouldn't want either of you risking being seen giving us this information."

"I just hope the warning helps." Mary stood, holding out a hand to Anna and then John, "Good luck to you both."

"Thank you, DI Crawley." John returned the handshake, following suit with Branson, and not returning to his seat until the DIs left the office. Once they left he turned to Anna. "Now what?"

"We remember a very simple Latin phrase."

"Vini, vedi, veci?"

"No, but that's a good one." Anna smiled at John, "Post proelia praemia."

John shook his head, "I'm sorry, I don't know that one."

"After battle comes reward."

"We're going into battle?"

"Yes," Anna led John to the lifts, "And we're going to be formidably armed."

John gave a chuckle, "You're indomitable aren't you?"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant that way."

"Then maybe I should change my phrase to nulli expugnabilis hosti."

"You're going to have to translate again."

They entered the lift and Anna stared at the doors, "Conquered by no enemy."

"Then what's the plan?"

"We're getting you acquitted Mr. Bates. And then we're going to find out who really killed your wife."


	5. Not Like Last Time

John walked into the flat, moving gingerly around corners as if some unseen enemy might attack him. Anna's footfalls behind him had him turning in place, body coiled to spring, and she paused in her approach. Pointing to the rooms she spoke, "Not quite home is it?"

"I'm not even sure where that'd be now. It's been so long since I had a place I wanted to be my home." John sat on the cot as Anna took the only other chair in the room. "This place is a reminder that I don't know where I belong anymore because I don't belong anywhere."

"That's why you're tight as a gym junkie's ass?"

John laughed, "Partly."

"And the other part?"

"I've never been good at waiting for things."

"Me either." Anna shrugged, "But we learn patience the hard way or the easy, our choice in the end."

"I guess we do." John surveyed the room, "It looks exactly like where I lived, but it's-"

"The uncanny valley."

John nodded, "Too familiar to what I know to be real and yet not real enough to give me comfort."

"Not sure you found much comfort in your home anyway." Anna sighed and John stared at her.

"Read that in a file?"

"Yes." Anna leaned toward him, resting her elbows on her knees, "The file I made of John Bates, the savior of Downton Primary."

"Please don't call me that." John shook his head, shivers running down his spine. "It doesn't sit well with me."

"It didn't sit well with me either."

"Then why call me that?"

"To see what kind of man you are."

John laughed, "The woman who authorizes a gun rang in my basement, gives me weights and mats and computers to keep working for a company we both know is listening to us right now, and gets me out of prison doesn't know the kind of man I am?"

"Sounds rather ridiculous doesn't it?"

"Sounds bloody mad."

Anna shrugged, "I'm of the belief, Mr. Bates, that there are layers to everyone. We don't have to peel them all back to know what we do about people but we need to pull back enough."

"Have you?"

"I'm getting there." Anna stood, "I don't know about you but this whole day's done nothing but put tension in my body and I'd like to fix that."

"I do hope what you're suggesting right now is a sparring match and not something that could get you disbarred on ethical grounds."

Anna smiled, "If I wanted to suggest that, I would've said."

She led them down to the basement and removed her jacket, draping it over the back of the chair. "I do hope prison didn't make you soft."

"If anything it taught me I fought too 'by the book' when I didn't know how to dig my fingers into another man's nose or claw out an eye." John kicked off his shoes and bit his cheek a moment. "I'm going to say what I hope isn't about to sound like a bad line to get you out of your clothes but-"

"A blouse and business trousers aren't fit for what we're about to do?" Anna unbuttoned her shirt, "I'm not an idiot so I wouldn't suspect anything but you trying to be chivalrous and offer an equivalent advantage."

"When did I say anything about advantage?" John lifted his shirt over his head to leave him in his boxers and undershirt after he shucked his jeans. "I want a fair fight I can win without feeling guilty."

"Then I'm going to be sorry when I disappoint you." Anna smoothed her vest down before grabbing the smallest pair of boxing gloves.

"Like you must disappoint whatever boyfriend's waiting for you at home when you wear those boy shorts over whatever expensive lingerie he bought you?"

Anna laughed, "The boy shorts prevent chaffing when I spend hours in business trousers but I do applaud your smooth move Mr. Bates. Asking after a boyfriend while also indicating a desire to see my knickers."

"Just making an observation."

"And I'll make one that you'll find the next statement is also on observation." Anna slipped the strap on her gloves tight. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Next to that line of trophies at my school are a couple with a pair of boxers on top for the women's competition."

"With someone else's name on them?" John taunted, pulling the Velcro strap on his glove over with his teeth before practicing a few punches with it. "Must've rankled you to have to share the space with someone else's trophies."

"With my name on them."

"You left quite a legacy at the school then?"

"I did." Anna tapped her gloves together, "Much like the impression that you're a completely different man when you're in your element."

"How so?" They circled one another, John experimenting with a jab Anna easily ducked.

"In that prison, or my car, or the office, or in that room meant to look exactly like the one you had before you could've jumped at a shadow and beaten it to submission." Anna feigned a cut to the left and landed a hit on his right side. "But here, you're playful. It's almost like you're a different man."

"Maybe I'm trying to unsettle you."

"No," Anna shook her head, ducking another hit toward her face but taking his punch to her back. She hissed, dancing out of his reach as she adjusted. "If you wanted to unbalance me you wouldn't change your personality."

"Maybe you've unlocked a new side of me." John ducked down behind his gloves as she kicked toward his face and blocked the second kick in her spin with his shin. "Not unlike the sides of you I'm unlocking."

Anna tsked against her teeth. "I'm an open book."

"In this case we're both just a compilation of files we've secreted from one another, trying to one up the other with just how much we can say about those trophies or our bookshelves." John waited, lowering his gloves to see Anna's face. "You're just as closed as me."

"So it's like two rocks beating against one another?"

"No." John ducked her punch and landed two on her sides before sweeping her legs. Anna hit the mat hard, air rushing from her lungs, and John stood just out of her reach while she regained her breath. "You told me, in our first interview, that you didn't have the training to free yourself when Green got ahold of you at Downton Primary."

"And?" Anna wheezed, sweeping her legs in the air to get herself to her feet. She coughed, "What's the point?"

"You served in the Royal Marines for five years. You still nailed the center of the target earlier this afternoon. And here you are, sparring with me when we both know I could break a man's neck with ease."

"Your point?"

"You weren't helpless when I came to your rescue." John crouched and blocked Anna's barrage of kicks and punched until he trapped her leg between his arm and his body, holding her in place as she struggled to get away. "Why didn't you fight back?"

"Would you think less of me if I confessed I was paralyzed with fear?" Anna jumped up, wrapping her other leg around John's neck and grabbing her ankle to tighten the chokehold.

John released her first leg and wrapped his arm around her waist before jumping back to knock them both against the mats. When they hit, Anna's leg released on impact and John extricated himself before she could try and wrap another hold on him. He shook his head, skipping away from her. "I've seen men freeze in battle zones. I've watched their eyes when they're frozen in fear."

"So have I." Anna stood, rolling her shoulders back and raising her gloves. "I know what it's like to have death's cold hand around your heart."

"But that wasn't the look in your eyes."

"I do remember you intimating something to that effect on the stairs this afternoon." She winked, sweeping toward his legs but he rolled away.

"And now," He got to his feet, stopping her haymaker before forcing her back with a solid hit to her stomach. "I think you let him take you."

"Let him?" Anna shook herself, kicking up to catch John in the chin and force him backward as he tried to regain his footing. "Do you think I let anyone do anything to me I don't want them to?"

"No I don't." John stretched his jaw, "Which is why I know you let him take you to spare those children. You let him threaten your life because it could save them."

"What's your conclusion here, Mr. Bates?" Anna waited, "I know you're dying to make it."

"The conclusion, Ms. Smith," John faked twice before taking his shoulder to lift her off the ground and slam them both into the mat. He secured his knees at her waist and gripped at her wrists in the MMA gloves, "Is that you would've died for those kids if you'd had to and you did it gladly."

Anna did not cower away from his gaze, "You would've done the same."

"I was there as a professional. Every time I put on that uniform I know it could be asked of me."

"And I know what's asked of me." Anna lowered her voice so John had to tilt his head down to hear her. "Once a Marine, always a Marine."

Her forehead snapped forward and knocked against the bridge of John's nose. Pain exploded and he fumbled to the side, trying to clear his head. Anna wrapped her fingers over his hand, snaked her legs up around his neck, and pulled him into her hold.

"If you don't tap out, I'll break your wrist from this angle." She tugged and John wondered if the pain in his head lessened because a shot of agony echoed in his wrist. "Tap out."

John hauled in a breath and raised a hand as if to tap. For a fraction of a second Anna relaxed and John made his move. He slipped his arm free, regained his position on her torso, and pressed his forearm to her throat.

"Draw?"

Anna narrowed her eyes a moment before nodding. John got off her, helping her up, and then pulled at the straps of his gloves. He laughed to himself and noticed Anna staring at him.

"Something especially funny?"

"Just how I'm going to explain all the new bruises I think you gave me when I report to DI Crawley or DI Branson."

"Tell them you tripped getting out of an unfamiliar shower." Anna let her gloves hang on the rack, "You wouldn't believe how often that actually happens."

"After you gave me all this in the basement of the house you're lending me I think I'd believe just about anything you said." John put his hand out to her. "You're probably the best lawyer I could manage with a quid."

Anna paused, looking at the floor. John frowned, "What is it?"

"I'm not your lawyer anymore." Anna put up a hand, "You're released to my custody but I'm not your lawyer."

"And when, exactly, were you planning on telling me you were hanging me out to dry?" John threw his gloves to the corner of the room before pointing a finger at her. "I trusted you when you said you could get me acquitted."

"As you should continue to trust the decision I made this afternoon to give your case to my partners at my firm."

"I don't know them and I don't trust them."

"Do you not trust them because you don't know them or just because you're determined not to trust anyone?"

"I trusted you."

"Then trust this decision now, John." Anna flailed her hands in the air, "Everything I'm doing is to get you acquitted for a crime you didn't commit, as I promised. Trust that I know how to do this job better than you."

"Do you?"

"Yes I do."

"Then why hand it over to your partners?" John snapped his fingers, "Your partners, Phyllis Baxter and Joseph Moseley who try most of the cases you take to court as experts and analyzers, not as leads."

"They're fully qualified and able to defend you."

"I don't want them."

"You didn't even want me until Mary foisted me on you." Anna crossed her arms over her chest, "I took this case because of what I can do. Having analyzed it I realize I can do a lot more from the sidelines and that's where I need to focus my efforts."

"And why's that?" John taunted, coming closer to her, "Because you don't think you could handle to be in the same room as Richard Carlisle after what happened in that office."

Anna scowled at him, "I'd watch your next words very carefully Mr. Bates."

"Or what, you'll leave?" John pointed to the door, "You already quit as my lawyer and I don't need a sparring partner."

"What you need is a swift kick to the ass."

John scoffed, "And who's going to give it to me? You?"

"Given how I handed you your ass a minute ago I wouldn't be so cocky."

"Given that you just gave up I'd keep my admonitions to myself."

Anna gaped at him, "How is any of what I just said coming through to you as 'I quit your case'? I said I'm not your lawyer, not that I quit your case."

"Aren't they the same?"

"No, they're not." Anna took a breath, "Because the one means that I can't get disbarred if I admit that I can't defend a man I want to screw on these mats because it's a conflict of interest."

John gaped at her, "What?"

"You weren't the only one who wanted a kiss on the stairs, Mr. Bates." She stepped toward him so they stood less than a foot apart. "But I couldn't do that before if I were your lawyer, no matter how much I wanted to."

"And now that you're not…"

"No holds barred, as the saying goes."

The saying was enough for John. His hands cupped her face and he practically attacked her mouth. Anna jumped into his embrace, wrapping her legs around his waist, and returned his kiss with as much fervor as possible. With a bit of steering Anna's back hit the wall and John used the point of contact to get leverage when he took their kiss deeper.

Her fingers dug into the skin of his back through his undershirt and John risked just a moment to haul it over his head. Before it even hit the floor, Anna's fingers skated over his chest and curled in the hair she found there. John skimmed his hands down her sides to slip under her vest and knead the skin of her hips.

Anna tore the garment over her head and adjusted enough to let it fall to the floor as John laid a line of kisses from her lips to her ear. He followed the path to her collarbones, nipping at her pulse when it jittered under his care, and kissed over the top of her breasts in the functional bra.

"No lingerie." He murmured against her skin, grinding his hips when her nails raked furrows over his shoulders.

"No boyfriend." She breathed, arching toward him when his fingers quested to find the catch on her bra. "And you can take it off if it's in the way."

"It's in the way." John affirmed and helped her drop the bra near her discarded vest before he glided his lips toward her breasts. "And I'm not disappointed."

"By my breasts."

"That you're single." He licked toward her nipple and she clutched at the back of his head. "This would be harder to do if I were seducing you away from someone."

"I thought you were already hard." Anna tightened her legs around him, grinding enough to break his concentration and leave him groaning against her skin. "Unless that's something else down your boxers."

"That's all John sweetheart." John sucked her nipple into his mouth and worked a hand over her other breast to massage in time with her cries.

Her grip on his scalp forced John's focus up after a moment and Anna claimed his lips while pushing off the wall with her shoulders. John stumbled slightly, regaining his balance before he landed unromantically on his ass, and positioned Anna with her back to the mats. She broke the kiss to suck her own trail of kisses at his neck before stopping near his shoulder to leave a mark with her teeth.

John grunted and tugged at the shorts Anna wore. She shuffled enough on the mat to escape them and gasped when John managed to get her knickers off in the same move. He grinned at her, stroking a finger up the seam of the inside of her thigh.

"Didn't they teach you efficiency in the Marines?"

"When they weren't drilling us to boredom." Anna flipped them, her fingers slipping under the elastic band of his boxers. "But I'll tell you I could strip my rifle and put it back together faster than anyone else."

"I don't doubt it." John leveraged on his shoulders to lift him hips and smirked at Anna's reaction. "I told you, all John."

"And all for me." Anna took hold and massaged over him. "I do hope you're not overly sensitive. I know it's been awhile for you. If you've forgotten any particulars I can-"

John flipped her back over, positioning himself between her legs and placing a hand at her nerves. "I think I remember where it all goes."

"Prove it."

John set to work. His mouth went to her neck, working over his path from earlier, and eventually left her keening when he returned to her breasts. But when his fingers played at her nerves and slipped between her folds Anna's voice hit soprano. Her hips jerked up to meet the work of his fingers and when he slid one inside her tight channel she practically howled.

Her fingers found his chin and she maneuvered to drive herself onto his hand while taking control of his mouth. The shift in dynamic solidified when she mercilessly squeezed and massaged his erection. John soon found their hips matched rhythm and forced their lips to part long enough to move their hands so they could join.

Much to his chagrin, but nothing he would admit to her, it had been some time since he had sex. Even then, he was sure he never felt anything as wonderfully scorching as Anna wrapped around him. Her fingers left crescent shapes in his arms and side when he settled and they became claw marks when he started moving.

They kissed and caressed whatever they could reach. Their breathing syncopated with the sound of their bodies seeking the height of pleasure together. And when they both crested the peek all was silence.

John barely held himself over Anna, shifting to the side before rolling onto his back. She let out a breath, almost like a laugh, and sighed. "I guess all the tension's been released."

"Better than I imagined it would be." John turned his head to her. "I hope you don't regret it."

"I couldn't regret it." She took his fingers, intertwining them. "I knew, when you were there at Downton Primary that day, I'd never regret doing this with you."

"You didn't know me."

"But I did." Anna leaned on her arm. "They say that Shan Yu, a noted warrior of the Mongols, said that you only know a man when you hold him at the edge of a volcano."

"I think you're paraphrasing."

"And you," She put her finger over his lips, "Are you interrupting."

John made a show of closing his lips and Anna smiled, leaving a kiss on them. "The point, John, is that you know people best when you face death. That's when men show who they are."

"Women too." John ran the back of his finger down her cheek. "I knew I wouldn't regret it from that day either."

"Then let's not regret it now." Anna settled on her side, "We're who we're meat to be now."

"Satisfied?"

They laughed and Anna swatted his shoulder, "Better than we were."

"I can say, without any bit of humor, that you're much better than the last person I remember having sex with."

Anna shrugged, "You're better too."

"Then we're off to a good start." John sat up, "I'd offer to take you to bed now but I've only got a cot and I don't think I'm the only one with a key to this place."

"You are on rather a short leash." Anna crawled toward her knickers, working them on with the shorts. "And I need to get going before any of those people watching this place think what just happened just happened."

"They'll know that when you walk out the door with your hair like that." John found his boxers and worked into them. "And if they see my face it won't be a secret."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not your lawyer." Anna stopped, her vest still a little rumpled as it sat on her torso. "I do hope you're not the clingy type."

John put a hand to his chest, "I'm not a piece of meat to be used."

"No, you're not, but I don't want to set any kind of false precedent." Anna paused, "I'm infatuated with you. I have been for a long time. But we're partners in your release first."

"Lovers second?"

Anna shuddered, "I hate that word."

"Is there another one?"

"It's better than screwing buddies but it just gives me the shivers." Anna found her trousers and slipped her feet into her heels. "Whatever that part of what we could be is, we'll name it later."

"Until then we're what… Smith and Bates Investigates?"

"I'd watch that serial." Anna buttoned her blouse as John gathered the rest of his clothes. "But that's our first objective. All else is extra."

"Delightful extra." John smiled but nodded at her raised eyebrow. "But extra. We need me off the chopping block before we talk about a date where dinner might be included."

"We'll have a lot of dates with dinners in the future."

"I meant one where we won't be eating out of a carton." John escorted her to the top floor. "Until then, those'll have to do."

"Yes they will." Anna took a deep breath, "Sleep well John."

"I should." John pointed back toward the flat, "I'm not in prison, I've just worked out, and I've had sex. Every book I ever read says I should sleep like a baby."

"Waking up every two hours crying?"

"Something like that." John stopped, noting Anna's hand on the door. "I'd like to kiss you goodnight, if I can."

"Suddenly so shy?" Anna pointed to her body. "You've seen it all and now you're nervous?"

"That was endorphins and stress and hormones. This is…"

"Not that." Anna nodded, "I'd like that."

John leaned forward, clasping his hands behind his back, and kissed Anna as gently on the lips as he could. Pulling back he noted her grin. "What?"

"That was the most gentlemanly kiss I've ever had."

"After what we just did in the basement I should hope I could prove a gentleman."

"You kissed me goodnight and gave me an orgasm, I'd say you're a gentleman." Anna twisted the knob to open the door. "I'll see you tomorrow John. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Yes we do."

"Goodnight."

The door closed and John stood in the dark of the hall, his fingers touching over his lips. "Goodnight Anna."


	6. The Long Haul

Anna rubbed at her eyes, massaging the bridge of her nose before blinking at the papers on her desk again. The door to her office flew open and Anna jumped in her chair, sighing when Mary Crawley walked in. A redhead followed her, hands flailing, and could only mime at Anna.

"It's alright Gwen," Anna raised a hand to stop her, "Mary's here as a friend I'm sure."

"I'm here as something." Mary took a seat in front of Anna's desk, her arms wide, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hello Mary. How as your night?" Anna checked her phone, "It's been a whole twenty-four hours since we've seen each other. I think that deserves some catching up."

"I put you on his case to get him freed. Not so you could get him off."

"Oh," Anna turned to Gwen, "Could you get DI Crawley here some strong tea and I'll take one for myself."

Gwen nodded and left the office as Anna laid her things down so she could interlace her fingers on top of the desk. "I can see you're upset and I think we should go back to the beginning to resolve this."

"The beginning where I gave you him as your client and you passed him off to Baxter and Moseley or the beginning where you got him off because you gave him over to Baxter and Moseley?"

"If I meant the beginning of my orgasm, I would've said." Anna took a breath, "I took John's case because I believed you and I knew he didn't kill his wife."

"What, did he flutter his eyelashes at you during pillow talk?"

"No, because you wouldn't hand me the case of a guilty man even if your father crawled over broken glass to beg your help." Anna shrugged, sitting back in her chair. "You gave me his case because you didn't believe that the man who watched your husband die through the scope of his sniper rifle would bake a poisoned pie and then force feed it to his wife."

They sat in silence a moment as Mary deflated. She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and held her head. "I just don't understand anything about this case and it's driving me mad."

"I can tell." Anna tapped the papers, "What I did find is that the pie was delivered, not home baked."

"Someone ordered a poisoned pie?"

"I don't know about that part but I do know that Vera Bates wasn't faithful to her husband."

Mary nodded, "We do too. It was what gave us believable motive in his wife's death."

"And it's an area where Baxter and Moseley excel." Anna smiled, "Or, as I call them, Baxley."

"You call them Baxley?"

"It's like a ship name." Mary frowned so Anna explained, "Like Brangelina or Philinda."

"Philinda?"

"It's from _Agents of SHIELD_."

"You watch that?"

"You're missing the point." Anna put a paper in Mary's face, "Baxley's good at chasing down the tiny details in the case. They once visited every pub in York with a picture of someone to find out if anyone recognized him. It gave us a hole in the case and we blew open the alibi."

"Carlisle was fuming for weeks after that case." Mary leaned forward, "Did you put… Baxley, on this because you think they'll psych him out?"

"I think they're very good at tiny details and they can pick this apart like a difficult knot in someone's knitting circle."

Mary shrugged and then took a breath, "So it's not because you shagged him?"

"That did contribute to the reason why I stepped off the case. Thought it'd be best since you really shouldn't shag your clients."

"The ethics behind that decision must've been the driving force."

"I'll admit, I do appreciate the robes I wear and the job I do so yes, the ethics were a contributing factor." Anna stood, "Any other issues or questions you have that I should answer before you report the bad news back to Carlisle?"

"He'll find out on his own and trash his office over there at the CSP." Mary pushed herself to stand, putting a hand through her hair to pull it back off her head. "Though, if I remember correctly, the rule only applies if you begin a physical relationship with someone after you're their lawyer. If you happened to be in a relationship before you're their lawyer then I don't think the rule applies."

Anna snorted, "Why didn't you study law Mary?"

"I didn't want to wear the wig." Mary winked at her, "Think about it."

"I will. Like I'll think about how you had any idea I shagged him."

"I have a friend at their company who happened to be the one who put microphones in the basement of that house when they put in all those other things." Mary cringed, "Said he was on duty and had a very interesting listen last night."

"Oh no." Anna covered her face, dragging her fingers over her skin. "Who heard it?"

"You're worried about someone hearing you now?"

"Not that part." Anna waved her off, "Anyone who watches enough porn'll hear that."

"Then what's the problem?"

"What John said to me." Anna put her hands on her hips, "He mentioned that he knew what happened between Carlisle and I."

"Oh Anna." Mary put her arms over her chest. "Did you press?"

"We got a little occupied doing something else."

The door opened and Gwen held their teas in her hand. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's perfect. Thank you Gwen." Anna took her tea and handed Mary's over. "Could you get Baxter and Moseley on the phone but first I need to speak to Mr. Bates. Please call his number."

"I'll get it right away."

Gwen disappeared and Anna set her tea on the desk. "I can't have anyone knowing what happened."

"Why not? The bastard deserves to have his balls handed to him and you deserve to be the one who does it."

"He ruined me at CPS Mary." Anna shook her head, "They all think I'm the slut who tried to sleep with her boss."

"That prat came assaulted you in his office and you stabbed him with a letter opener." Mary snorted into her tea, "He still limps when it rains."

"He was more upset that the letter opener was a gift from someone than that I ruined his expensive suit." Anna sighed, "But I ran out of that room in such a state… He destroyed me there."

"He always thought you'd cock up the Green case but you closed it with flying colors and then shoved your resignation in his face." Mary finished her tea, "That was my favorite part of it all."

"That case has more holes than this one does." Anna paused, "Can I even tell you any of this?"

"Best not." Mary set the cup down next to Anna's. "Just leave me with the knowledge that you'll be the one handing Carlisle his ass when he decides to get too big for britches and take this case before the QB?"

"I'll discuss it with my potential client and see what I can do."

Anna waited for Mary to leave before pushing through her doors toward Gwen's desk. "Did you get Mr. Bates on the phone?"

"His mobile's going to voicemail." Gwen covered the speaker on her phone, "But Baxley's coming in shortly. They think they found something about the poisoned pie they want to discuss with you."

"Tell them I'll be back then." Anna grabbed her coat and purse, hitting the button for the lift.

In short order she pulled up outside the safe house and hurried inside. "John? John are you here?"

Sounds from the basement stairs drew her to the door and she made her way down the stairs. The click of her heels on the wood had John waiting for her and Anna's mouth opened at the sight of him. There he was, standing at the table, packing a bag.

"Anna…" He fumbled for words and Anna held up a hand.

"I'm assuming that your conversation with Bertie Pelham yesterday wasn't entirely about how your organization can't help you, was it?" She crossed her arms over her chest and John dropped the strap of the bag to walk toward her.

"I've been thinking it over and while I understand your decision I know I can't win without you. They can't help me without putting themselves in prison as well and the prosecution has a good case. One they can make off circumstantial evidence without much difficulty."

"So you'll run?"

"I've got to. It's the only chance that I don't spend the next twenty years of my life waiting to die while you duke it out in the appeals courts."

"They're called the appellate court."

John smiled, "I'm sure they are."

Anna set her purse on the table and examined the contents of the bag. "You pack light. I don't see a single book of poetry in here."

"I've got them all on the iPad." John shrugged, "It's not quite the same but it'll have to do since I can't haul that gorgeous library you painstakingly recreated for me up there."

"It was my sincere pleasure." Anna turned toward him, "I'm ever so sorry you're going."

"Why's that?"

"Because I think we could win." Anna reached out and took John's hand, "Mary reminded me today that you could take me back as your lawyer now since, technically, our romantic entanglement began before you hired me and we wouldn't have any of those ethical concerns."

"But you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I wanted to be an investigator on your case. Get back into the thick of it so I could also enjoy you a bit more under the sheets but…" Anna dropped his hand.

"Since there's not sheets?"

"Since you're leaving," Anna zipped the bag shut, "I've only one request for you."

"Anything Ms. Smith."

"Drop us a line, when you get where you're going." Anna shrugged, "Else I'll worry."

John snickered, "The point is to bug out and vanish. Fog on the wind, shadow over the stoop kind of thing."

"I'm sure someone as smart as yourself could find a way to drop me a line and still stay undetected." Anna picked up her purse, "Just know that I'll miss you."

"Try not to miss me too much."

"Too late." Anna nodded at the bag. "You'd best find a way to get out of here in a way that won't have them deposing me."

"You can't testify against me." John dug into his pocket and pulled out two quid. "You're my lawyer again."

"This is two quid." Anna held up the bills, "I told you in prison I only needed one."

"And one is for the first time I hired you and the other one is for this time." John put the strap of the bag over his shoulder, "Now you can't say anything about it. It's break the privilege."

"Your secrets, the few of them I know, are safe with me Mr. Bates." Anna extended her hand and John shook it. "Good luck and keep yourself safe."

"I will." John released her hand. "And your secrets, those that I know, are safe with me too."

"I know." Anna raised a hand, "Could I kiss you?"

"I'd appreciate that." John bent his head and Anna met his lips with her own.

There was no rush in their motions, no hurry, just a moment to appreciate the other before Anna pulled away. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." John nodded toward the stairs, "You'd best go before they think you knew about this."

"Even if I did…" Anna walked to the stairs, "I am sorry you're going."

"And I'm sorry I have to leave."

"Take care John."

"I will."

Anna left the basement, closing the door and leaning her head on it a moment. She took a deep breath, steeling herself against the tears edging her eyes, but she gathered herself enough to leave the house. Returning to her car she drove back to the offices and took the lift immediately to her office.

Phyllis stood, accompanied by a balding man who habitually brushed down at his waistcoat. "Anna we're so glad you're back. We've got something."

"So've I." Anna motioned them both down on the sofa in her office and took the one opposite them. "Mr. Bates has hired me back on as his lawyer."

"Are you taking lead back?" The man gave a bark of laughter. "Thank any gods listening."

"Mr. Moseley, decorum please." Anna urged and faced Phyllis. "He did it because, under the instructions of his company's council, he's leaving."

"Going where?"

"Best for us all, should we be deposed and forced to say anything later, that we don't know and for that reason I didn't ask." Anna took a breath, "For the time being we act as if nothing's different. We're to be seen going to and from the location where we're keeping Mr. Bates and we discuss this case as it's still ongoing."

"But if he's gone then-" Moseley's face contorted to express his confusion. "What case do we have for a man who can't defend himself and isn't here to do it?"

"We have the same case the prosecution does." Phyllis nodded, "They're building their case on circumstantial evidence, on weak motive. We build ours on facts that destroy them."

"And that's what we'll use to keep Carlisle shaking until the moment comes."

"The moment when they ask us to have Mr. Bates at court and we admit he's missing and didn't tell anyone?" Moseley shrugged, "It's bold but then we're in danger of losing our license when they think we helped him break probation and the terms of his bail."

"We've not helped him and we can prove it." Anna looked between Phyllis and Moseley, "We may need to build a case for ourselves in all of this as well."

"I'll get on it." Phyllis gathered her things, handing a folder over to Anna. "But you'll need to look at this."

"What is it?"

"It's a list of deliveries that Vera Bates received in the weeks leading up to her death." Phyllis stood, "Deliveries purchased using a card under the name of one Richard Carlisle."

"What?" Anna flipped through the pages, "Was he her mystery man?"

"Joseph and I've been looking into it but we need more time to flush it out." Phyllis turned to Moseley, "You had something else?"

"I did." He dug in his pockets and pulled out a note. "A man on the street gave this to me, said you'd understand why."

Anna joined them in standing, opening the note and snorting to herself. "It's from a friend warning me about Mr. Bates's decision."

"Does it say anything else?"

Anna tucked the note away, "Only that once he's gone so are we, as a firm."

"I'll polish up our resumes as well then." Phyllis ushered Moseley out of the room, stopping at the door. "They'll want him for the hearing tomorrow. What'll we do?"

"I'll figure something out." Anna walked around to take her seat at her desk. "I'm lead and I need to figure it out."

"We're here to help if you need it."

"Between tracking down that mystery man and polishing our resumes?" Anna clicked her tongue against her teeth, "You do need sleep eventually."

"It'll help me think."

"If I've got anything more I'll let you know." Anna watched Phyllis and Moseley walked down the hall through the glass doors of her office before putting her elbows on her desk to hold her face in her hands and cry.

* * *

Anna adjusted her robes and her wig, risking a peek behind her at Phyllis and Moseley in their robes, wigs sitting on the chairs in front of them. Phyllis met her eyes and shrugged. Turning back to the bench Anna briefly met the blue-eyed gaze of the man at the opposite bench.

He gave her a half smile and Anna forced her focus forward. Out of the corner of her eye she caught him leaning over the edge of the table to whisper at her. "Normally one has a defendant. Has it truly been so long you've forgotten how these things run?"

"No, Thomas, I haven't." Anna faced him, "And you can tell your boss that I'll wipe the floor with all three of you by the end of this case."

"Be hard to do if John Bates isn't here." He scoffed at her, "You're out of your league on this one. Carlisle's pulled out all the stops."

"Like you do for Crowborough?" Anna taunted and Thomas's face contorted as he pulled back to fume at his bench.

Anna smiled to herself, the low but momentary victory sufficing. The doors opened and all stood as the judge entered. She took her position at the top of the bench and everyone sat when she waved them all down.

"We're now in session and we're here for the preliminary hearing for John Bates in the case of QB v. John Bates." She looked up, removing her glasses. "I thought John Bates would be here."

"Your honor-" Anna started as the doors in the back opened. She turned and a smile took over her face.

"He's late but entirely apologetic." John took the spot next to Anna and bowed his head at the judge. "I'm sorry, the traffic to get here was worse than I expected and DI Crawley doesn't drive as quickly as I thought."

"I see." The judge turned to Anna, "Is your client ready to proceed?"

Anna turned to him and John nodded. "He is, your honor."

"Then let's begin."

They took their seats again and Anna turned to John as Thomas began presenting the case. "I thought you were going."

"I was."

"But?"

John covered her hand with his a moment, "I'm in it for the long haul Anna. I'm getting off and we're finding the person who killed my wife but I'll only do it if we're fighting it together."

"It's the only way."

John nodded, "Smith and Bates Investigates."

"Don't forget Baxley."

"Who's Baxley?"

Anna snorted, "I'll explain later."

"I hope so."


	7. On the Trail of Poisoned Pie

John placed another paper in the pile as Anna pulled her legs up on the opposite sofa, adjusting her position to better dig her chopsticks into the takeaway carton. He scanned another page and it joined the growing pile on the floor. "It's amazing how many friends people say they have when they count them on Facebook."

"But you don't know them?"

"Depends on which part of me you're asking." John grinned, flipping another page over onto the pile. "Officially I only met some of them once if I met them at all. Professionally I could tell you where they groom their dogs."

"How about where any of them buy their poisoned pies?" Anna set the carton down, "Or where they'd buy the poison for the pie?"

"That's easy. You could use heart medication, blood thinners, rat poison if you've got a grandmother who didn't get rid of it years ago, or even garden pesticides if you get creative." John shook his head, "People never want to admit how easy it actually is to kill someone with what you've got locked in your shed."

"Am I allowed to ask if that's speaking from experience?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny any role I may or may not've played in certain slightly suspicious deaths using household items." John winked at her, "But it was part of a training program I may or may not've been involved in."

"You need to become a lawyer, Mr. Bates." Anna snuck another bite from her carton and took the pile to his left, her right. "So these you don't know?"

"They're old school friends and social acquaintances. They're not really a part of her life and the only part she played with them was for show."

"Then they're out." Anna dumped the file in a bin, "We're looking for motive and I don't think this is a social climbing venture or someone feeling snubbed because they got a bad Yelp review or she made a mess of herself at a party."

"I don't usually poison people for that." John pulled out a sheet, "This one was a friend of hers, Angela Bartlett."

"Would she be aware of your wife's more… philanderous affairs?"

John frowned at Anna, "Philanderous? Is that even a word?"

"I don't think so but it seemed to fit and it gets the point across." Anna winked at him, "Would she though?"

"They were next door neighbors and given the stink eye I got from her I'd bet she was in Vera's corner."

"Vera's corner how?"

"Vera had her own version of our history she liked to tell people about us." John shrugged, "It's part of the reason I stayed far away from her as often as possible. Let her use our bed for whatever she wanted and I could always take the futon."

"What a life."

"It wasn't much of one."

"I don't understand." Anna shook her head, pushing her hair back from her face. "What kind of woman does that?"

"There's a lot-"

"Oh no," Anna waved her hand, "I get how she could cheat on you, because she's scum from everything I've read about her, but I don't know how she could give up on the sex she could have with you."

John coughed, "Sorry?"

Anna shrugged, "I enjoyed it. How could she not?"

"I don't… I don't know, I guess, but she wanted sex with other people more I guess. She told Mrs. Bartlett all about it so, in the end, it didn't really matter." John tapped the page, "She'd know more about it than anything but she won't talk to you or anyone she knows is involved in this business. She won't want to help."

"So we'll get someone non-threatening to talk to her." John watched Anna make a note, "Probably Phyllis since she's about as non-threatening as you can get without being spineless. And she's not directly involved in any of this enough to have anyone connect her."

"Not to dismiss the potential of Ms. Baxter, but how's she going to ask the questions she needs to ask without making a show of it?"

"She's practiced." Anna shrugged, "We'll give her a convincing story and Mrs. Bartlett will spill it all. Worst case scenario, we pay her for her information."

"Is that unethical?"

"No," Anna shook her head. "If we document it and record the whole thing then we're only seeking out information. It's like putting out an advertisement for information about an accident. It's perfectly legal."

"Then I'll trust to your experience. And, in light of that," John dropped the pages to his lap and faced Anna, "Why'd you want Baxter and… what's the other one's name? Joseph, on my case?"

"They're detail oriented and this case is all about the details."

"How's that make it different from any other case?"

Anna sat back on her seat, lips pursed as if she was thinking of how to explain a very difficult equation to a child. "Because the case they're making against you is entirely based on the idea that, as an agent of the Army… or their 'product', if you will, you're prone to violence and extreme reaction."

"They're going to paint my character as someone prone to overreaction and violence?"

"It's low and easy but effective, given the way the media portrays those of your training and experience."

"So they're playing on people's fears?"

"Yes." Anna held up one hand. "They're going to give the jury the face of a harnessed killer. They'll make you look like a rabid dog shaking loose from the leash and on the verge of a veritable rampage."

"Rampages don't usually result in a poisoned pie."

"Which is why they'll also reference you're expertise in the field, the way you've been trained, and that you're a cunning and calculating individual."

"So a psychopath?"

"Yes." Anna shrugged, "Not a nice look on you, I'll be honest."

"I'm a bit disturbed you've got an opinion either way about it." John tapped the pile of profiles in his lap, "And these people will help us do what, exactly?"

"Give us the facts on who actually paid to get that pie poisoned." Anna went through her pile, "Phyllis found that the pie was ordered, along with several other items using a card under the name of Richard Carlisle so they're following that lead."

John stopped, "Are you telling me that the man who wants to put me away forever, and had the audacity to touch you without permission, is the same one who might've been sleeping with my wife?"

"Funny little world isn't it?" Anna winked at him, "Now it's common knowledge that you only have to respond to summons and subpoenas if you actually take them into your hand so most people with our experience avoid them. But Carlisle, feeling so safe in his magical tower, won't even look before he takes it in hand. Then he'll be forced to appear before the jury, as our witness, and then we'll watch him crumble."

"As a hostile witness, though. I doubt he's coming quietly."

"I'll prepare accordingly," Anna winked at John, "Don't you worry."

"Is it ethical for you to question him?"

"Seeing as I'm not prosecuting my own case it is." Anna paused and John noted the way she flicked her glance in his direction. "Although…. There's something I need to ask you. It's not directly related to the case, or at least not in a way I can prove yet."

John shifted on his sofa, "You've got me intrigued now. What's the question?"

"You remember when Black Mountain came to the school in response to that threat?"

"Of course."

Anna repositioned herself on the sofa, putting her feet on the floor. "What did you know about the group that took the place over?"

"They're mostly drug runners and anarchists. The kind of people who break apart governments and nations in third world or devastated nations because they want to get at natural resources or could make a buck scalping the population. Think along the lines of those mercenaries in _Dark Knight Rises_ and you'll be about there."

"I'm not a huge comic book movie fan." Anna looked up at John's gaping face and then broke into a smile. "I'm sorry, I just had to see if I could jerk your chain. I get what you mean."

"That's cruel, Ms. Smith." John pointed at her, "Crueler than you've any right to be."

"I'll keep that in mind." Anna snorted, "What was your comparison again?"

"The men that took over the school are like the Navy SEALs of terrorism."

"Then please explain what they were doing at a boarding school in Yorkshire."

"I'm sure you're aware that a lot of international individuals with large bank accounts, that may or may not be filled with ill-gotten gains, tend to school their children in the UK and in the US?" John waited for her nod, "One of those children happened to have a mother who made enemies when she shut down a lucrative drug operation in her country."

"Are you talking about that woman in Malaysia?"

"I choose not to comment as it was in the interest of the British government to keep all of those children safe."

"But you still wanted to save someone in particular?"

"Does it bother you that some lives are valued more highly than others?"

"It should bother everyone but that's life isn't it?" Anna leaned back on her sofa, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'd help shoot down a plane of people I didn't know if someone threatened George again."

"Says the woman who offered herself as a hostage to get all the children out." John smiled at her, "But yes, we were aware of them and that's why we responded over the local bobbies and MI5… who weren't too pleased about it."

"Then what do you know of this… Bane-like organization's activities or affiliations in this country?"

John pursed his lips and then shrugged, "That's more Henry's department than mine. I know they've got some but I couldn't tell you who they are."

"Then would it be possible for your friend, Henry, to look into something without crossing the lines of illegality?"

"It's possible but you won't get the answers you need staying to the safe side of the law like that."

"It's a risk I'll have to take because I've got some research I'd like him to see." Anna got off the sofa and walked to a line of filing cabinets. Pulling out a key she unlocked one of the drawers and reached in to pull out a file. This she dropped in John's lap, almost scattering the papers already there. "It's a theory I had after our run in at the school that I chased like a mad dog."

"They say someone with PTSD should see a therapist."

"Is that what you did?"

"I ran off the anxiety I could and then drank to bury the rest of it." John flipped through the research, "I see you went digging to bury yours."

"It's something I always had on my side in this business." Anna took her place on the sofa again. "I'm a damn good researcher and I built my firm on the principle that if it happened we can find proof."

"Except more arguments are won by emotion than logic."

"We build our emotional argument around a logical base." Anna pointed at the file. "When I worked for CPS and had to prosecute the case against the terrorists you managed to take alive I had a time of it."

"They make it hard for you?"

"They didn't make it easy but it was our side more than theirs." Anna shook her head, "Our case and our evidence had holes everywhere. None of it made sense, anything relating to you and your team was redacted-"

"Sorry about that."

"Nature of the beast," Anna shrugged, "I'm not unfamiliar with the idea of protected information. So I worked around the holes I expected but there were too many on other sides. That forced me to fill in the holes myself."

"What'd you find?"

"That my old boss, Carlisle, had more than a few connections that could be tracked to your nameless terrorist group. They could all be explained but too many of them were too convenient."

"Doesn't sound overly optimistic for your ambitious and fearless leader."

"I didn't think so either." Anna leaned forward, her elbows on her knees. "But what I found gave me a lot of information and leads on potential illegal dealings that could be… further investigated."

"If you're talking about the underworld then I'd like to advise against it. Those are nasty people with horrible habits."

"I'm aware." Anna smiled at him, "I was there when Carlisle toppled the Albanians and another group in one go. I remember the little turf war that blew up a house and then burned another one down in Yorkshire."

"I had a cousin in that group that vanished." John nodded at her, "Did Carlisle ever tell you about the man shot three times in the chest right in front of him?"

"Made it his crowning moment to keep his position. Said he'd avoided an assassination attempt that tragically cost the life of his inside man. Covered his ass for losing the case there."

John snorted, "I know snipers and if the Reaper wanted Carlisle dead, he'd be dead. Those shots were meant for the man next to Carlisle."

"Then what happened to the poor schmuck that took those three shots to the chest?"

"Lives with his four children and wife in Australia now." John shrugged, "It was the fastest way to get him out of the line of fire."

"Then you know about that little mafia woman they just picked up right? The one working for the Russians?"

"I'd heard something about that but I didn't follow up." John shook his head, "They're all just ancillary to our investigations into the terrorist group."

"Do they have a name?" John raised his eyebrows, "This terrorist group, do they have a name? Because I don't want to call them 'terrorist group' forever."

"They call themselves Evergreen because all of their members take the codename Green when they enter. Something about wanting to cleanse the world and make it green."

"How pretentious."

"It's rhetoric. They're all just agents of a larger empire they don't understand and usually they're exploiting idiots with noble intentions." John sighed, handing her the file. "If Carlisle's mixed up with a group like that then he's getting paid for it and they're getting protection."

"Then how do you suggest we use what we know?" John did not answer so Anna continued, "If your wife had Carlisle's card and bought the pie then it's suicide. If we can prove that it was a recurring purchase than it was either meant for Carlisle, and we just made ourselves a victim, or we can find motive for someone to use the charge to their advantage and we've got another suspect for her murder."

"Who?"

"It doesn't have to be anyone else in a specific sense. We've just got to give reasonable doubt that it wasn't you by saying someone else could've done it."

John cracked his neck, "What if this is all a big show?"

"How'd you mean?"

"Did you ever do a raid when you were in the Marines?"

"All the time."

"Then you've used flashbangs and the like to distract people."

"Of course." Anna nodded, "You're talking about a smokescreen."

"If your Mr. Carlisle is as bad as your paperwork suggests then…" John snapped his fingers a pointed to the file. "He's in desperate need of something to make him untouchable in the eyes of the public and the his other allegiances."

"Given that he's mucked it up so badly before?"

"I'm pretty sure having gang violence on the streets of London wasn't really to his favor." John checked his watch, "I need to get back and debrief."

"And I'll get this information about Angela Bartlett to Phyllis and Moseley." Anna paused, "We'll pick it up same time tomorrow?"

"You're the boss." John stood, stretching out, "But I'm not used to being stuck in that position for so long."

"What an odd way to say that." Anna winked at him, "Gives me the feeling you'e been stuck in a few positions for a long time."

"I've laid out on my chest for eighteen hours waiting to get someone before and all he had to do was pop his head up." John mimed aiming his rifle and then clicked his tongue against his teeth for the shot. "Half a mile. It's my record."

"You took someone's head off from half a mile away?"

"Yes I did." John picked up the picked over contents of the Chinese take away cartons, "I hope you're done with these."

"Why? Too much MSG for you?"

"Not enough for you?" John tossed the cartons into the rubbish bin. "I can be a food snob when I want to be and Chinese takeaway is a bit lowbrow for me."

"You also like poetry so I'm not surprised." Anna sorted through the mess before grabbing her bag. "I'll drive you home then."

"Not sure I like the idea of the safehouse being my home." John followed her, grabbing his jacket. "Not that I really have one but I hope that's not going to stay mine."

"After all the work we put in for it." Anna clicked her tongue against her teeth disapprovingly as she reached forward to press the button for the lift. "You're not very grateful Mr. Bates."

"I am grateful." He came up behind her, fingers sneaking to brush at the thin line between her button down shirt and the top of her trousers. "Just… not about that. And I express my gratitude in other ways."

"Suggest things like that and you'll get yourself in trouble." Anna warned in a whisper, entering the lift as it opened and waiting for him to follow before closing the doors.

"Only if I don't come through." John maneuvered around her to hit the emergency stop button and then crowded her into the wall. "Do you want me to stop?"

"You've not started anything Mr. Bates so how could I possibly ask you to stop?" Anna taunted, her hand coming up to grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him down so their lips could crash together.

John's hands flattened on either side of the lift wall as Anna took control of his face with one hand and the other tightened her grip in his shirt. His legs spread to encompass hers and soon his hips jerked toward her stomach. She moaned at the feeling and then forced him back enough to turn her back to him.

"We've not got much time before they think it's a problem with the lift."

John craned his head around, "Are there cameras in here?"

"Worried about a show?"

"Your reputation is important." John pressed his chest to her back, hands skating over her body. "I wouldn't want to compromise it."

"We're good." Anna moaned as his lips pecked over her neck, pushing her hair over one shoulder. "There aren't any cameras here after I caught Baxter and Moseley on the tapes."

John stopped, "Baxter and Moseley?"

"Yes," Anna insisted, unzipping her own trousers and pushing them down to her knees, "Now hurry up."

"Take all the romance out of it why don't you."

"Romance me later. Right now," Anna looked over her shoulder at him, "Screw me, please."

John unzipped his own trousers and readied himself as his fingers slipped forward. The slight damp already gracing her folds increased when he added his fingers to the mix. His mouth went to her ear and he whispered to her with each motion. She moaned at the tone of his voice, the growl in her ear, and the grace of his fingers through her as he continued to tease and slip toward her begging opening.

When he could not take her whimpers any longer he thrust forward. John bit down on his reaction, the tight heat that greeted his efforts tugged at his sanity. "This won't take long."

"Doesn't matter." Anna pushed back against him but he tried to draw the moment out longer.

"I want to make it worth it."

"Screw me!" She hissed and John moved.

In minutes they both came undone. Anna's head went forward, resting on the lift wall and John had to grab the rail at the side to stop himself falling over. He pulled up his trousers and boxers before helping her. When they looked respectable enough for public he brought his fist down on the button and the lift moved again.

Anna, turning so her back was to the wall, grinned at him. "What an appetizer."

"Just an appetizer?"

"I hope that's what it was."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm ready for the main course later."

Anna drove John back to the safehouse and they settled in the basement, Anna checking over the guns while John made his report for debrief. He put the headphones in his ears, translating the instructions as he went, and then ended the call. When he made sure he memorized the instructions he tore them to pieces and tossed them into the candle next to the set up.

"That's an old fashioned way to do it." Anna commented, setting down a sniper rifle. "Why not just type and delete?"

"It's all about how people can retrieve information." John tapped the side of his head, "Can't get it if it's up here."

"Sounds like what spooks say." She came over, leaning on the edge of the ring. "I thought all the military types didn't like spooks."

"We don't, usually."

"Time changes all things I guess." Anna jerked her head toward the ring. "Want to go a round?"

"I thought you wanted to go another round of something else." John got up from his chair, "I'd be interested in a round of that."

"In a minute," Anna ducked under the ropes, "I need to think."

"About?"

"Whether or not I want your friends on the other end of those microphones they installed in this little man cave they gave you." Anna removed her shirt and belt, "Not sure I want them to enjoy the encore performance."

"You need a round in the ring to think about that?" John pulled his shirt over his head and dropped his trousers before he joined her.

"No." Anna reached under the rings to grab some hand wraps and work them around her fingers and over her wrists. "I need to think about why Richard Carlisle, the veritable goldenboy for the CPS, would work with terrorists."

"Money?" John suggested and ducked her high kick. "Though he makes enough to wear those disgustingly expensive suits."

"Maybe this is how he pays for those." Anna punched at John three times and then clipped his ear with a high kick before he could duck from under it. "But he's the kind that wants power. Favors over cash payments."

"People like him like both of those things." John punched toward her but she ducked and he used the moment to grab the kick she aimed for his side and brought his palm down on her thigh to put her on the ground. "Could be a case of needing something they're offering."

"What's Evergreen going to offer him?" Anna picked herself up off the mat, moving toward John again.

"They've got the manpower he could use to further his interests." John reasoned but took a moment away from watching Anna.

She jumped forward, throwing her body up to wrap her legs around his neck. He grabbed at her but Anna bent in half to flip herself around his body and grab him around the back so her arms could encircle his neck. John teetered and he fell to his knees as black showed at the edges of his vision.

"Interests." Anna released and John gasped for air, the feel of her slight body leaving his back only a moment of relief. "They're here to help him with something else."

"What?" John coughed, standing, as Anna ducked under the ropes to grab at her shirt and belt. "What interests could a group of terrorist mercenaries have here?"

"Terror attacks happen everyday. But," Anna held up a finger, her shirt hanging open around her trousers. "If you knew when and where you could use that to your political advantage. Sound woke and informed to crush the opposition."

"You think Carlisle wants a seat in Parliament?" John got his trousers up toward his hips and his own shirt back over his head.

"It's the next step for someone of his political ambition." Anna went to button her shirt but stopped when her eyes met John's. "What?"

"I hope you're not about to button that and make it more difficult for me to get it off of you in a moment."

Anna grinned at him, "Where did your lovely coworkers not leave their microphones?"

"I know a place."

They left the house, John tugging Anna behind him, and they stopped at her car. Anna's fingers fumbled a bit on the keys for the car but they finally managed to get it open and John immediately took position on the passenger seat. He pushed the seat back as far as it would go and craned it to lay almost flat.

"One of these days," Anna climbed in on top of him, getting her knees jammed on either side of him as she lowered the windows just enough to let air out, "We need to do this in an actual bed."

"Or in a Jacuzzi." He trilled, groaning as Anna rested herself just above him and locked the doors. "Imagine what I could do with jets and bubbles to help me."

"I don't need much encouragement to imagine you in any number of unprofessional situations." Anna opened his barely fastened trousers and maneuvered to pull them and his pants down his legs. "But I think I'm going to fulfill a fantasy of my own right now and we'll see how many… accouterments we'll need in the future."

John went to say something but her hand on him was almost more than he could handle. Her hands worked to counter one another so the rush of sensations sent John into a veritable apoplexy with the overload. His hips bucked and struggled while his hands dug into the fabric of the shirt bunching at her shoulders and then the gearbox of the car.

Anna wedged herself between his legs, pushing them wide as she leaned up over the seat to lick from base to tip. John almost bit through his lip trying to keep his voice down and Anna only kissed a ring over him in return. The moment he got his breath back she stole it by taking him in her mouth.

Her teeth scraped over him, her determined tongue wrapping and manipulating him to grow hotter and harder under her. And when John tried to steer she backed away, shaking her head with an impish grin. So he surrendered to her, hands still trying to feel over her body as much as he could, and waited until he could not bear it any longer.

As he went to pull her up, Anna undid her trousers and removed her shirt. The shirt landed on the driver's seat as she maneuvered herself out of the confines of her trousers. Anna dodged his attempts to situate her and eased herself down with her back to his chest.

John buried his head in the crook of her neck and rutted once before he could control himself. Anna sighed as she gyrated her hips to spread the dampness from earlier, and whatever she gathered ministering to him just now, for effective lubrication. Her nails dug through his trousers to scratch at his skin in time to John's upward thrusts.

Even with the bra strap over her back scraping his skin, John pulled her closer. He grunted with each thrust, trying to use his feet on the floor of the car for the leverage he needed, and wrapped an arm around her hips to keep her steady so he could drive as deeply as he needed to go. Anna twisted her head enough to the side to take his mouth with hers while her hand dug back into his hair to hold them steady together.

John left his hold on the door and turned it to her knickers. They were stretched and contorted to the side but he pulled at them to drag the fabric over her nerves. She stuttered in her motions and the kiss faltered. But John recovered both, driving her higher and hotter.

The wrap of her walls around him only drove him mad and John lost all finesse in his frenzied desire to send Anna over the edge first. She fought back, squeezing and bouncing to break his control. In the end they both lost… or won, depending on how one would classify it.

They slumped back onto the seat and Anna turned herself to face John. "Next time, Mr. Bates, we're doing this in a bed."

"But there's something to be said for how we've done it where we've done it so far."

"There's that." Anna ran her finger down his nose before kissing his lips. "And it's been crazy, kinky, and wonderful."

"Care for another round?"

"Perhaps tomorrow." Anna worked herself back into her clothing enough to drive home. "We've both got work to do."

"Yes we do." John got himself decent and got out of her car. "Until tomorrow Ms. Smith."

"I won't forget the offer of the Jacuzzi." Anna winked at him and drove away.

John smiled to himself, "Neither will I."


	8. Present into Evidence

Anna frowned at the paper and then faced Phyllis. "You're sure?"

"It's all recorded for the court." Phyllis handed over the thumb drive. "It's all on there and if we can guarantee her safety she'll tell us more."

"That's a big promise."

"I've made people my study, Anna, and this woman," Phyllis shook her head, "She's scared and she's serious."

"Then let's get Mrs. Bartlett in one of our houses and take care of her so we keep that information." Anna tapped out something on her laptop and then flicked her eyes up to see Phyllis still standing there. "Is there something else?"

"There might be." She took a seat on the other side of the desk, her jaw flexing. "I'm wondering if she had a hand in the death."

Anna turned her chair enough to look Phyllis head-on, and crossed her legs. "What do you mean?"

"People tell the truth for one of three reasons."

"You've got three reasons for honesty?"

"First, they're good people. Usually with morals based around a religious belief system and based on her 'I'd swear on a stack of bibles' and her inability to properly use other Biblical references I'd say she's not religious."

Anna snorted, "And the other reasons?"

"Second, the desire for gain. Seeing as I didn't have to offer her money or anything extravagant I'd guess it's got nothing to do with monetary gain. That leaves the third option, regret or guilt."

"I feel like I'm about to have the philosophical discussion from the end of the fourth season of _Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._ here." Anna sighed, "What's she got to feel guilty about?"

"The same thing people in Stalin-era Russia did, turning in their friends."

"We don't live in the Cold War or Stalin's Russia, Phyllis."

"Power wields itself in ways more than just the NVKD beating down your door."

"I think it was the NKVD." Anna cracked her neck. "So she's feeling guilty she sold her friend out to Carlisle? He's not God and he's not Russia."

"But he's got a reputation. Force and money are powerful tools and to the conniving and the frightened they can be larger than anything." Phyllis took a breath, "You trust Joseph and I because we suss out the details. Trust me when I tell you she's hiding something."

"So you're suggesting against giving her use of one of the houses?"

"Absolutely not. I think we need eyes and ears on her as much as possible. Watch her wear the floorboards down with relentless pacing until her guilt eats her alive." Phyllis shrugged, "It's what we used to do when I worked for MI5."

"You worry me, on occasion." Anna pursed her lips to blow out a gust of air. "Alright. I'll get Moseley on the information you've got on the thumb drive so he can pull apart what we need. You get her into the house you think'll give her claustrophobia or whatever she needs to crack like an egg."

"On it." Phyllis stood, pausing again. "I've got an impertinent question but…"

"What is it?" Anna dragged her rolling chair back to the desk.

"Are you and Mr. Bates in a sexual relationship?"

"Yes." Anna turned her head to Phyllis, "I hope you're not about to tell me you started putting cameras back in the lifts."

"No," Phyllis reddened and flustered, her hands flapping. "I'd never… Not after… It was… I-"

"It's alright. Only I know…" Anna bit her lip. "And Mr. Bates but since I'll tell you I'm guilty as well you can be certain no one else'll know."

"Does your relationship jeopardize the case?"

"Not as yet but I'll trust you and Moseley's judgment if you believe it's getting in the way of winning this case."

"And…" Phyllis lowered her voice, "The other case?"

"I believe Mr. Bates might provide some answers in that regard as well. If our suspicion about the real perpetrator of his wife's death is true then… I believe he's got an angle to help us with the Carlisle case."

"Yes ma'am." Phyllis headed to the door. "I'll send Joseph in."

"Thank you." Anna typed out the rest of her email as the door opened she did not look up from the computer and waved the incomer over. "Just over her Moseley and we'll-"

"I'm afraid Mr. Moseley's rather busy."

Anna looked up and her jaw locked. "Mr. Carlisle, what a surprise."

"A pleasant one I hope," He took one of the chairs on the other side of her desk, crossing his legs and kicking her desk in the process. Anna bit back a sound as he adjusted in his seat. "I wouldn't want to get us off on the wrong foot."

"We've been on the wrong foot for quite some time now." Anna sent the email and glanced toward her glass doors, noting Moseley standing there with a confused expression. She shook her head almost imperceptibly but Carlisle still turned in his chair toward the door. As he looked Moseley was gone and Anna cleared her throat to pull back his attention. "I believe you had something to discuss."

"Did I say that?"

"You wouldn't be here for a chat since we haven't spoken outside of a court room since I let CPS." Anna rolled her shoulders back. "What brings you down from your throne to speak to us lowly defense attorneys?"

"So harsh Anna."

"I could, and should, be more harsh Mr. Carlisle." Anna stressed his salutation. "We're not friends and you don't make social calls so there's no reason for you to be here otherwise."

"Straight to business then?" He leaned forward, steepling his fingers as his elbows balanced on the arms of the chair. "No chat before hand?"

"We've discussed all we're ever going to in that regard." Anna opened her hand to him, "Please tell me why you're here."

"It's about the John Bates case."

"We won't take anything less than a complete drop of all the charges."

Carlisle snorted and then gave her a dose of his derisive laughter. "You think I'll bend to that kind of ludicrous demand?"

"It'll be better than me wiping the floor Thomas Barrow's smug face."

"You've very confident."

"I've got every reason to be." Anna held herself straight in her chair. "Remember, I'm still the Golden Child after I shut down that division of Evergreen."

"How'd you know that name?"

Anna smiled to herself at the tick in Carlisle's brow and the stuttering quiver in his joined fingers. "That's for me to know, Mr. Carlisle."

"Please," He waved a hand, still trembling as he adjusted his position. "It's Richard."

"Not in a professional setting and any other situation would have me using a very different form of address for you." Anna sucked the inside of her cheek. "What do you want about the Bates's case?"

"I want you to drop it. Let him serve the time he rightfully deserves for killing his wife."

"Is it my turn to laugh that a ridiculous suggestion?" Anna waited but Carlisle's lips only thinned to a line. "Because I'd laugh at that."

"I wasn't being funny."

"Could've fooled me since it's the best joke you've ever told me." Anna shook her head at him. "I know you're hoping to get this one under you belt after that fiasco with the Albanians that Downton group."

"I had them."

"Then they all went to ground while you dithered over some home invasion. You couldn't connect the dots when they stared you in face about the flat being destroyed in a shoot out, the restaurant blowing up, or that house in Yorkshire burning down." Anna shook her head, "It was embarrassing to watch you try and explain how that man died in front of you."

"It was a sniper."

"A sniper you claimed died before the events even took place." Anna snorted, "And then that poor woman working for the Russians that you let get stabbed to death in prison? I heard the DI in charge of her case quit because you cocked it up so badly."

"He was sleeping with his CI."

"It's unethical, not illegal."

"It's not-" Carlisle stopped himself, grunting as he clenched his fist. "I'm here to offer your client a deal. He gets ten years, parole after eight, if he avoids trial."

"Afraid we'll convince the jury he's not a mad dog?"

"He's a trained killer."

"So was I."

"You proved it when you stabbed me in the leg with a letter opener."

"I dare you to try and tell that story." Anna shrugged, "And if you want to prove that in court then I'd invite you to explain why you limp when it rains."

"They'd be on my side."

"Not in this political culture." Anna pointed to the door, "Unless you've got something worth my time I'd suggest you walk your skinny little ass right out those doors."

"The deal's off the table the minute I stand up from this chair." Carlisle jabbed his finger at the desk. "He'll get twenty to life if he goes to trial."

"Only if they convict him." Anna handed over a piece of paper and Carlisle took it. "And you'll help us prove he didn't."

"What?" He read it and the red in his face turned almost purple. "You bitch!"

"Language, Mr. Carlisle," Anna stood, clapping her hands together. "They won't let you speak that way from the stand so I'd practice."

"I won't help you."

"You have to. You've just accepted the subpoena to give evidence for the defense. I'd suggest you warn Mr. Barrow and try to keep yourself out of the case as much as possible now." Anna winced, "Conflict of interest and all that."

"And what about your conflict?" He stood, using the desk to support his hands as he tried to lean over the expanse and intimidate her with his taller frame all hunched and angular. "I know you've shagged him."

"Before he was officially my client. That's not against my oaths."

"You shagged him after he became your client." Carlisle almost snarled but Anna kept her cool.

"No, I didn't. I quit as his lawyer, shagged him, and then became his lawyer again." Anna put her hands on the desk to stare into his eyes. "It's all about the letter of the law."

"I'll crush you and destroy this firm when you lose this case."

"I'm sure there's a universe where that's true." Anna pushed off the desk and pointed to the door. "Your exit is that way."

Carlisle almost shoved the chair over as he left the desk. His hand gripped the door handle hard enough to whiten his knuckles as he jabbed a finger at her. "You'll regret turning down this offer."

"Not more than I regret not handing your balls to you when you tried to assault me in your office." Anna held his gaze. "Walk safely, I hear it's supposed to rain this evening."

Carlisle left the room, the door threatening to shatter when it hit the frame but Moseley caught it before it could. His shoulders hunched and his face ran through a dozen different apologetic emotions. "Ms. Smith I'm sorry I didn't-"

"I'd like to fire Gwen for missing him on the way in and not kicking his ass down the stairs but I'll assume she was working on something critical."

"Someone had a panic attack in the lobby and she was overseeing the ambulance."

"Right." Anna took her seat, Moseley almost taking the one Carlisle just vacated but thinking better of it and scooting to the other chair. "I told Phyllis I'd be giving you the breakdown for the information she's got on this."

Anna handed over the thumb drive and Moseley took it. "Careful, since I don't know what's on it. I know Phyllis recorded the conversation so I want you tearing that audio file apart, understand?"

"And the other content?"

"See what Mrs. Bartlett has to say about Vera Bates and her philandering." Anna leaned back in her chair, "If there's anything about Vera Bates having a halo thought I'm going to throw up."

Moseley frowned, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Phyllis went to pick up Mrs. Bartlett so talk to her about other questions."

"I'll make some notes of them." Moseley stood, "Is there anything else you need from me?"

"Yes." Anna pulled out a file but stopped Moseley opening it in her office. "When you've got a moment I want you to comb through this. I need some assurance I'm not mad about some of postulations there."

"Were there worries you were mad?"

Anna shrugged, "I don't know. I need some distance because I don't think I'm seeing the forest for the trees here."

"I'll look into it." He held up the thumb drive and the file. "Soon as I get back to my office it's all I'll do."

"Thank you Mr. Moseley." Anna waited until he left to return to her work. The door opened again and Anna groaned, "Look I-"

"You sound absolutely done in." John smiled at her, mimicking what Anna hoped was a relaxed expression on her face. "I thought you'd like me to drop by since the first hearing's coming up."

"I did but I told you I could debrief you later." Anna grinned at him, "In more ways than one."

"Really?" John's eyebrows rose and he drew his tongue over his teeth as he stopped with the desk between them. "And what kind of debriefing would start first?"

"Business before pleasure."

"Well." John came around the desk, running his finger along the edge of the wood and carefully shifting some of the files there to crowd her into the desk so it indented a line in her ass. "I figure you've earned a bit of pleasure after all the business you've done today."

"Do I?" Anna hummed as John's lips started a lovely trail over the column of her neck. "I must've been working harder than I thought."

"What a good girl you are." John whispered into her skin. "You must've been so dedicated in school."

"Always." Anna pulled him up to look at him. "But I warn you, the door to my office is glass and most of these walls look deceptively thick. I'm a professional and I wouldn't want to give anyone the wrong idea."

"Then isn't it good that your assistant, the redhead-"

"Gwen."

"Gwen, lovely woman, saw me coming in the lobby and I ran into that flutterly man-"

"Moseley?"

"He's the balding one with a nervous laugh."

Anna smiled, shifting to sit on the edge of her desk as John remained standing. "Moseley."

"Right, him." John ran his fingers over her shoulders and down her arms. "He noticed me on this floor and told me something about blinds."

Anna covered her mouth with her hands to try and keep herself from laughing so hard she's topple off the desk. "Oh that's great."

"Why'd you say that?"

"It means Phyllis and Moseley talk about us in their spare time." Anna wiped at her eyes. "Phyllis was asking me about you earlier."

"Really?" John made a face, "Did she want a turn because I'm exclusive in that department at the moment."

"She's very invested in Mr. Moseley so there's no worries there." Anna paused, "Exclusive?"

"Yes." John nodded. "I know it's only been… Two weeks?"

"Almost three."

"Time flies when you're having fun."

"And reading legal briefings and doing interviews and-"

John put a finger over her mouth. "I was trying to be romantic."

"And I appreciated that but," Anna moved his finger so it no longer muffled her words. "I'm still trying to get to your comment about exclusivity."

"There is the fact that you're the one working my case."

"And I'm honored you're not shopping around for anyone else to work your case but that's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant." John shrugged, "It's soon but I don't believe in sleeping with more than one person at one time. It might be old fashioned but there's this thing called monogamy and-"

Anna pulled John closer as she surged up to take his lips. He bent over, pushing her toward the desk so it supported her weight and held one hand to the back of her head while the other kept balanced at her waist. After a moment Anna broke away from him enough to flail her fingers under her desk and hit the button to activate the screens.

They lowered and John turned his head up enough to notice the lowering in time with the grin that spread over her face. "What about that talk of professionalism?"

"I occasionally nap in my office and I lower the screens to do it. Only the security guys'll know you were in here before they lowered."

"Not sure how I feel about that." John feigned pulling away from her before ducking back to kiss the other side of her neck. "What if someone knocks on the door?"

"I've a strict 'no disturbance' policy when the shades are drawn."

"What about your thin walls?"

"Whomever hears it'll have to deal with therapy in their own way." Anna slid off the edge of the desk to move away from it but John caught her hand, turning her in place so her back was to his chest and she could feel the rise of his erection rubbing down the line of her ass.

"And how'll you deal with it?"

"With you I hope." Anna bit her lip when John's hand snuck past the perfect tuck of her blouse and into her business trousers to run a finger along the front of her knickers. "Tease."

"It's called foreplay and I believe in it." John continued setting gentle, barely-there kisses over her neck and shoulders through the fabric of her shirt as his fingers flicker her trousers open and zipped them down so he could reach more of his hand inside her clothing. "Unless you have something in your desk."

"I leave all my toys for that kind of thing at home." Anna turned her head to kiss his cheek as his hand paused. "This is a place of business."

"Then maybe I should-" He went to withdraw his hand but Anna caught his wrist and forced it back.

"That stays right where it is and you don't stop." She only guided his actions another minute before setting her palms on the desk and leaning forward on them to give herself the leverage she needed to shift against the front of his trousers.

John moaned against her skin, sending a shiver thrilling through her whole body to match the drag of his fingers through the material of her knickers. It bunched and rasped against her sensitive nerves to leave Anna digging her hands onto the desk to grip it harder. His other hand could not seem to pause between gentled kneads of her breasts under her shirt- now untucked and hanging around her- or palming her ass.

With his fingers moving closer and closer to the two places she wanted him the most, John tugged her trousers to her knees. Anna balanced herself between her hands on the desk and her heels on the floor, pushing into John's caress and manipulation of her ass and then her breasts until she was sure her body would pull in three directions at once. When she thought she could not take it any longer he finally slipped a finger past her knickers and into her while his thumb flicked harder at her clit.

Anna moaned, her body draping over her arms until her torso took a position reminiscent of a plank with her feet still on the floor. The sparking of her nerves and the pull of her vaginal walls forced Anna to spread her legs as far as her trousers would let her until they bunched around her ankles, trying to seek out more of the motions John seemed to give only in short supply. A supply that stopped the moment he removed his fingers and let her knickers fall back to the floor.

Before she could whine or complain like a child denied candy, the squeak of her office chair distracted her and then John's tongue sent her to another dimension entirely. One hand held her thigh, stretching her as open as he could manage, and the other joined his tongue in the business of continuing the pleasure twisting her tighter and tighter until she burst. Her arms shook as she tried to keep herself from face planting into her desk but before Anna could stand John was inside her.

At first he rocked slowly in and out, reminding them both of the familiar yet fascinating drag of him inside her. But Anna recovered enough of her strength to thrust herself back onto it with each of his drives and added a gyration for good measure when he attempted to leave her keening at the edge. And when she adjusted one arm perpendicular with her body, better balancing herself while her other arm leaned back, John almost lost all control as her fingers cupped and fondled his sack.

He thrust forward, hard, and did not stop. The pace shunted Anna against the desk and when she checked herself later she noted the faint bruising in a line over her hips. But in the moment she could not care less. All that mattered was John plunging in and out with a frenzied speed that dotted colors behind Anna's eyes.

His lips at her cheek had Anna turning and, with one of his hands holding her hip tightly to keep himself close enough to hit the very deepest he could with each thrust, their lips met again. It was a confused mash to teeth, tongues, and lips as they tried to find a balance between the fire raging with every frenetic snap of his hips to her ass and the sensual pleasure of the kiss. Eventually they gave up and, with their cheeks pressed tightly together, John brought his fingers around to slip and flick until her sensitized nerves finally flared to drive her over the edge for a second time.

Anna barely noticed his end as her body shivered and shuddered through the second orgasm. Her legs and arms shook as if she attempted something insane at the gym but soon settled with the last stutters of his hips until her ass lay cradled there. Another motion had John, still buried inside her, reaching around for the tissues on her desk. His swift motions barely touched her as if he knew not to further excite her already swollen and pulsing folds.

Within a minute of his actions her knickers were back in place, her shirt neatly tucked back into her trousers, and those securely fastened at her waist as if they had not just spent the last quarter of an hour wrinkling near the floor. She checked herself n the darkened screen of her computer and pulled at the slight creases in her shirt to make sure they were not indicative of their actions and then turned to face him. To just stare at him.

They held one another's gaze until the phone on her desk buzzed. Anna went to hit the button when a flicker across her computer caught her attention. She jiggled the mouse, putting a hand to John's chest as he leaned in for a kiss, and then stepped back as colors fritzed and fuzzed over the screen.

Her phone buzzed again, giving Anna cause to jump, and John shuffled to the edge of the desk to get out of her way as Anna picked it up and held it tightly to her ear. "Anna Smith."

"I'm sorry to disturb your nap Ms. Smith but there's a virus in our system." The phone crackled and Anna held it away from her ear when a whine echoed like a siren out of it. 'Damn it, it's in the phones too."

"What?" She tried to respond but then the light on the phone blinked out and her computer went black.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is I paid nearly a fortune to Versailles to get these systems malware proof with amazing firewall and a virus got in." Anna smacked her hand against the button under her desk. "That was Moseley on the phone."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Call your friend Henry and ask him if he knows what happened." Anna opened the door to her office, leaving it stuck in place as she walked down the hall away from John. "I need him to tell me if I just got hacked."


	9. Illegal Search and Seizure

"She didn't get hacked." John sighed with the statement from the other end of his phone, running the side of his hand against his forehead as he watched everyone scurrying around trying to check the latest paper copies of everything.

"Then why's everyone here acting like she did?"

"Because what she did get was someone worming their way into her system from an on-site device that created a backdoor. It's not so much a hack as someone using a hidden key to waltz in and copy everything."

"And destroy everything too I'm guessing."

"From what I'm seeing?" There was silence a minute, "It's like walking through a ransacked building really but I can't tell if anything was erased. I'd have her IT people check of any residual booby-traps or related Trojan Horses that could hide as unwanted surprises in her system but I think they got what they wanted."

"Which was?"

"The mountain of data they keep on the servers at Baxely-Smith."

"I'm pretty sure it's Baxter, Moseley, and Smith."

The snort on the other end of the line gave John a frown. "I believe it should be chronological, not alphabetical."

"You just think that because you're not over how both Bertie and I are above you on rosters."

"It's not fair when your last name starts with 'B', his with 'P' and me with 'T'."

"That's the way of the English-speaking world." John glanced up to see Anna, pushing hair out of her lined face, and shuffled with the phone. "I'll phone you later Henry, if anything changes."

"I'll tell you if I find anything while tracing the back end of this."

"Is there anything to trace?"

"Something like this leaves fingerprints and I'm going to find them."

The call ended and John slid his phone into his pocket and faced Anna. "Is it as bad as it looks?"

"You tell me." Anna put a hand through her hair, the wrinkles in her shirt from their earlier escapades now disguised under the frustrations of a woman trying to save what appeared to be a ship taking on water. "I assume you've got your friend with the computer skills looking into this."

"Whatever he finds won't be anything you can act on."

"Then it's a good thing I'm patient about how I chose to retaliate." Ann took a breath, "In my experience throwing a tantrum doesn't help."

"But it can feel good."

"So does saving the anger, mining it, and, when the moment is right, unleashing it with the force of a great typhoon."

John frowned, "I feel like there are two references there to something I should know but I've no clue about."

"Just a television reference and one for the greatest Disney movie of all time."

" _The Lion King_?"

"I'm not talking about _Hamlet_ with fur." Anna rolled her shoulders back and crossed her arms. "Have you really never seen _Mulan_?"

"I watched all the seasons of _ER_ once, does that count?"

"No." Anna pointed at John's pocket. "And I'm still waiting for you to tell me what your friend, Mr. Talbot, had to say about our little problem here."

"He said it was an on-site backdoor. Like leaving a key out so a burglar can just get into your house through the back. Something then about how they ransacked your files but didn't seem to delete anything but to make sure your IT people've got a line on Trojan Horses or other assorted booby traps."

"He's very thorough, your friend."

"He's trained to be." John took a breath, "Any ideas how you put a bug into your system?"

Anna pursed her lips, starting to shrug but then stopped. Her mouth opened slightly, her brow furrowing as her eyes narrowed. In a second she was off toward an office and John, for lack of better occupation, followed her. They opened an office to where the balding man- Moseley- hurried to print something at his desk.

"Where's the drive?" He looked up as Anna, frowning. "The drive Mrs. Bartlett gave Phyllis. Where is it?"

Moseley reached toward his computer and tapped a few keys before handing it over. "There wasn't anything on it. All the files were blank. The whole thing was a ghost drive."

"Apparently there was something on there." Anna handed the drive over to John, "If you could find a way to get that to your friend then he doesn't have to skulk around my system for whatever he needs. He'll have patient zero."

"Anna?" Both turned to Moseley, the creases deepening on his forehead. "What's going on?"

"This was how we got hacked. We opened ourselves to a backdoor and let our thieves in." Anna put a hand out to Moseley, "It's not your fault. We got played Joseph. It happens occasionally."

"Should I get Phyllis to-"

"We'll send someone else to confront Mrs. Bartlett." Anna rolled her shoulders back, "I'm going to."

John flexed his jaw, following Anna out of the office and touching her arm to stop her. "That's not the best idea."

"Why not?"

"Because there could be more to this." John tapped the drive against his fingers. "There's the possibility, however small, that she's working for Carlisle."

"She told us as much when Phyllis questioned her."

"But Ms. Baxter heard the story you were supposed to hear." John took a deep breath. "There's a reason torture isn't a successful source of information. Coercion, even in the calm form Ms. Baxter used, is a way to get information you want but not necessarily the information you need."

"Are you suggesting that Phyllis can't do it?"

"I'm suggesting that Mrs. Bartlett's not going to give you the truth anyway." John shrugged, "Even if it were just because she doesn't like me she's got no reason to want to help. More to the point, now that we know, she's either working for Carlisle willingly or she's under his thumb. That means she's not on our side."

"She doesn't have to be on my side to give me what I need."

"But you do have to trust what she gives you and, frankly, I don't think we can."

"I hope you're not suggesting that my solution to my just being hacked from the inside isn't going to be that I leave it as it is."

"I'm suggesting that knocking down her door's not the answer… yet." John shrugged, playing with the drive in his hand. "Maybe Henry can use this to figure out what they were after and find out who did it. Until then go on like nothing's wrong."

"I've never really been a 'fake it 'til you make it' kind of person."

"It's true, I haven't found you to be faking anything yet." John winked and Anna managed a little blush to her cheeks. "But I think you should consider a full sweep after this."

"Versailles IT is-"

"I'm not just talking about a cyber security sweep. I mean a manual, piece by piece sweep to make sure you're not being had by anything else. Phone lines, corners, cameras… even your security sensors downstairs. All of it."

Anna folded her arms over her chest, "Do you have a suggestion in mind as to whom I should call for that?"

"I think you already know someone but I've got a couple friends who'd be willing to help if they were needed."

"Call them." Anna walked back to her office. "If this thing's getting swept from basement to rafters then I need all the people I can get."

John pulled out his phone and dialed a number, "Bertie? Yeah, we need a sweeper team here. They've been hacked."

By the end of the day, every phone line, computer, and camera had cracked open under the care of a skilled team with gloves and magnifying glasses. John dodged them, directed a few, and chatted a bit with Bertie in between the conversations the other man traded back and forth between Anna, Baxter, and Moseley. When the last of them left, carting away their things and more than a few little devices they found snagged in corners or hiding in shadows, John wandered back into Anna's office. He dodged the last man, holding the door for him, and approached Anna's desk.

She leaned back slightly in her chair, turning it from side-to side with her toe, and examined a bug. John sat on the edge of her desk and folded his arms before nodding at the bug. "I thought the point was to get rid of them."

"This one I know how to work." Anna stopped moving, shifting to lean forward on her knees and hold the bug between her fingers to demonstrate. "I just flip this switch here and it starts receiving again. Simple as that."

"Simple as that." John waited a beat, "Why?"

"Because whomever put it in my office needs to hear what I want them to hear."

"If you don't know who that is then-"

"I've got a very good idea who put this in my office." Anna set the bug on her desk. "I'm almost a hundred percent sure it was Carlisle when he weaseled his slimy ass into that chair."

She pointed across the desk, pursing her lips and then giving a little shake to her head. "I'll have to burn it."

"The chair?"

Anna nodded, "Which'll be unfortunate since I designed the whole room around those chairs and now I'll need someone else to come in and redecorate."

"That sounds a bit extreme."

Anna shrugged, managing a little smile. "It is what it is. Scorched Earth policy and al that."

"Do you really have a Scorched Earth policy?"

"I should. It would make my life so much more interesting and solve so many problems." Anna flicked the bug so it skittered to the edge of the desk. "But, for the moment, I need to act as if everything is normal."

"I'm sure the men in suits combing your office for bugs would make it less normal."

"They would if they weren't your people and, therefore, built for secrecy." She stood, "I guess Mr. Talbot's hard at work on the drive?"

"Bertie's got it to him and I give him…" John scrunched an eye closed, "Maybe a day before he's got it handled."

"Then I guess we'd better get back to your case." She reached over, grabbing the bug from the end of her desk and held it up to John so he could see her flick it on. "Mr. Bates, I hope you're not upset that I called you in so late."

He grinned at her, "Of course not. It's not like I've got much else to do. Work's been a bit of a drag since I'm not technically allowed anywhere."

"Being that you're a murderer, and all."

"That does tend to put a damper on my social calendar." John motioned to Anna and then the desk. She frowned and he only smiled before reaching over to kiss just below her jaw. "Unless you want to be my social calendar."

Anna's fingers clutched at John's shirt and she moved herself to her desk, maneuvering so there was enough space for her to lay back if she wanted. From the look on her face and the way she grabbed John's free hand to skate up her trousers, he would put money on her wanting that. "What did you have in mind?"

"Something I'm sure you'll enjoy." John stepped between her legs, running his hands over her thighs and up toward her hips. "Unless you don't want to, of course."

"I am still waiting for the promise of a Jacuzzi and eventually a real bed but I can suffice with what I have right now." Anna leaned back on her elbows so her body stretched over the desk. "Any last words?"

"None that compare." John lowered his mouth to hers and teased at her lips a moment before finally taking them with his.

One of his hands situated the bug where it could hear everything but in a position where they would not knock it off the desk or break it. John's hands were no more idle than Anna's, popping the buttons on her trousers and pulling them down her legs to leave them and her shoes thumping on the floor. His shirt billowed open and her hands caressed over his chest in time with the gliding of his over her legs.

John pulled her to the edge of the desk and caught the legs of her chair with a foot to drag it behind him. He sat in it, notching his knees into her desk to stop it from spinning or rolling away, and held her hips steady before he set to work with his mouth. Anna's fingers clutched into his hair with each drag of his tongue against her knickers until he sucked at her so her nails dug furrows into his scalp. The fabric dampened under his attentions and Anna's hips twisted under him while her hands kept him close to where she only grew wetter.

When he added his fingers it was almost over. The material caught around them so he tugged them free to leave Anna bare from the waist down. It was only a moment but John lost himself at the sight of her. The flushed, swollen, shining sex before him begged for John's attention and he responded in kind. A kind that left Anna crying out as her legs and body quivered under him.

He pushed himself back, leaning over Anna to kiss her as she struggled to regulate her breathing. Anna pulled John close, her leg meeting his hip to bring herself close enough to grind against him. John broke the kiss, struggling to breath as he ground back to meet Anna's hips.

Instead he opened her shirt and laid kisses over her exposed skin as Anna's fingers fumbled with his trousers. Their lips met again as Anna's hand wrapped over John's erection and he grunted into her mouth. They shifted and struggled to get his trousers and boxers lowered enough for Anna to move toward him. There was the beat of a moment when their eyes met before John thrust forward.

He drew to the very edge and drove forward, taking a half second to be slow. But when Anna's hand slipped to his ass and the other back to his hair to tug him forward, John set a punishing pace. A pace Anna met with each rise of her hips and the grip of her legs around his waist. Her muttered instructions guided his actions until he looped one of her legs over his elbow and sank even deeper with a new angle that pressed him right where his mouth brought her to climax minutes before.

With the kind of motion and accuracy his new position achieved, Anna fell into her second orgasm within a minute and John could not stop himself following. The gentle stutter of their bodies finishing, trying to expend the last of their reserves of energy, left John's head at Anna's shoulder. He kissed any of her exposed skin as he could, wondering if she minded his sloppy but affectionate intentions.

They drew back, John lifting himself enough to glide free, and accepted the tissues Anna put in his hand. He cleaned over himself to sit in her chair and then rolled forward again to take care of her. The sensitive skin shivered under him and John smiled to himself when Anna bit her lip to stop a whimper.

"It's alright if you want another round."

"Is it?"

John did not answer, just put a finger forward to open her again. This time was slower, less rushed than the first two, and the gentle shudder that went through Anna to signal her end felt more like a comforting wave than an earth-shattering experience. But John enjoyed watching the red flush to Anna's skin, the way her mouth parted to try and force more air into her lungs, and the tremors through her body when she came. Each of these impressed on his mind as he helped to clean her and then offered her knickers from the floor.

"Not that they'll be of much good." Anna held them up, the damp stains over them a clear indicator of her earlier passion.

"Better than going commando." John situated himself and then held Anna's trousers open for her to step into, offering her shoes from the floor. "That'll rub you raw, every time."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Maybe once." John shuddered, "A bad Halloween party where I got forced into some leather trousers that wouldn't allow for any briefs. Most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life."

"More uncomfortable than prison?"

"It's all relative really." John flicked his gaze toward the bug and Anna opened her hand to it.

"Your decision."

John flicked the switch to turn it off. "There's only so much I think he can jack off to."

"It's been in my office since his earlier visit which has me thinking he heard us earlier too."

"Then he's even more of a pervert than I originally thought." John leaned back in Anna's chair and offered her a spot on his lap as she slipped off the desk.

Anna laughed, shaking her head. "I know exactly where that'll lead."

"Then I guess we should think about where else any of this might lead." John noted the temporary freeze in Anna's shoulders. "You said you wanted off the case, originally, because you were afraid of your emotions in my direction. What happens to those emotions when you make me a free man?"

"We can think about that then."

"Or now."

"It's not been long enough to think about now."

"It's been long enough for us to have sex." John stood, "I'm not asking for you to wear a class ring or move in with me… especially seeing I really don't have a place of my own."

"Don't be ridiculous. The safe house is yours."

"Not unless I pay for it."

"Then you'll do it once we finish the trial and your accounts aren't frozen anymore."

"Anna…" John sighed, scrunching his eyes closed and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm talking about us, long term."

"Is there a long term?"

"That's not fair because that was my question."

Anna folded her arms, her eyes narrowed as she stared into a corner. The crease in her forehead deepened for a second and then smoothed. "I think we need to focus on keeping you out of prison. Then we'll worry about what Carlisle wanted with your wife and the Evergreen organization. Then we can talk about a long term option, if there is one, for us."

"Are we compartmentalizing now?"

"We're triaging a situation." Anna opened her arms to the room, "You were here when they combed my office and found out I'd been bugged."

"That could've been anyone."

"Not if you ask Bertie about the bugs." Anna picked up the one from Carlisle. "This one wasn't like the others. This is low tech, little corner spy shop kind of thing. The others were military grade and I'll bet every file I made about that little terrorist group it's them."

"And you never noticed terrorists in your building?"

"That's the thing about terrorists, they're organized nowadays. They've got Facebook pages and YouTube channels."

John sighed, "So you're saying it'd be dangerous to think of us in a long term situation?"

"It's dangerous to think of anything in a long term scenario at the moment." Anna came up to John. "You've got a target on your back and so do I. For the moment we're the same target and, if we finally remove them, we decide we want to keep together after all that because it's not just oxytocin or something…"

"I hope you're not saying you took on my case because of a hormone."

Anna smiled, "I slept with you because of hormones. I took on your case because you paid me two quid."

John nodded, "Alright. But I do insist, if we table this discussion, we're not going to just ignore that it exists."

"I can guarantee that won't happen." Anna offered him her hand, "Food?"

"I'm starved." They walked toward the lifts and as Anna leaned to hit the button John looked toward the cameras. "Do you think they saw anything they thought interesting?"

"Depends on how long they were watching." Anna led the way into the lift. "But I leave that up to your friend Henry to tell me."

"What about your spook friend?"

Anna shrugged, "He's…. Charles is a company man. He'll help me because he likes me but he's answerable to another power first."

"A power that might've been watching us?"

"Maybe but he would've warned me about that first." Anna tapped her fingers against her arm as they stayed folded over her chest. "Although…"

"What?"

"Maybe we're thinking too small." She faced him, "What if Evergreen's more than just Carlisle's lapdogs?"

"You think they're someone else's attack dogs too?"

"Carlisle's the head of the CPS but he's still small potatoes compared to something like being a hit squad for a three letter acronym agency."

"Would your friend Charles know about it?"

"Might explain his hands being a bit tied." Anna pulled out her phone, "But it never hurts to ask."


	10. Missing Persons

Anna held the phone to her ear, waiting as John ordered from the fish and chips stall. She smiled at him when he pointed to the vinegar and then started when a voice answered on the other end of the phone. "Hello."

"You sound surprised."

Anna shrugged, nodding 'yes' to John's nonverbal offer to sprinkle more salt over the steaming chips. "You never answer that quickly."

"Sometimes I like surprising you."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for your kind of surprises."

"Guess we'll all find out together then." Charles took a breath on his end of the line, "I do hope this is a social call."

"Not in the slightest."

The despaired groan put a bit of a smile on Anna's face. "I never get those calls from you. It'd be nice to have one, occasionally, that wasn't trying to nose out a nonrefundable favor."

"I've invited you to a few parties and you've refuse every invitation I give you so I guess it's your probably with sociability not mine."

"It'd still be nice to be asked for something that wasn't state secrets every now and then you know."

Anna shook her head, "Next time I'll make sure it's something so insipid you'll wish you'd never mentioned it."

"I'm already excitedly dreading that scenario." He blustered a moment, "Now, am I going to need to lease the family farm and update my bug-out bag if I have this conversation with you?"

"It's possible." Anna bit her lip and motioned John back to the car. "You know the little investigation we've been running yes?"

"I know that I promised you a few clandestine itineraries and, after a few favors you'll need to help me fulfill, I do have some people willing to dance around questioning to place your man out of the country at the time."

Anna held the phone between her ear and shoulder, unraveling a pair of headphones from her purse to hand John one and take the one with the microphone for herself as they leaned close together so as not to stretch the cord. "And that's lovely Charles but I meant the other investigation."

The pause had Anna reaching for a chip in the basket between them on the gearbox. "He's on the line isn't he?"

"Do you want to meet him?"

"I can tell you where his cousins holidayed this year so I don't think that'll be necessary." Charles coughed, "If he's not told you about the organization he works for then I'm really not sure what I can say."

"I'm asking for what you're willing to say, Charles."

"It doesn't work like that Anna." She held a chip in her fingers as Charles paused again, this time with a series of clicks in the background. "I'm afraid all I can offer you I already emailed you. If there's anything I can do to support the efforts of justice in the realm you let me know. Goodbye Anna."

"Charles-"

He hung up and Anna took the phone back, rolling the headphone cord around her fingers while simultaneously opening her mail. It vibrated in her hand and she opened the email. When she snorted John almost dropped a chip in his lap and barely caught it. "What?"

"Charles is such an interesting man." Anna turned off her phone and grabbed a pad from her purse to write on it. "I hope you meet him one day."

"What was that about trying to find some clandestine itineraries?"

"Oh," Anna ripped the page from the pad and handed it over to John as she started the car. "He thinks he's found a few people who can testify to your whereabouts when your wife was killed."

"Before or after the pie was apparently sent from the baker's?" John frowned at the page and then tucked it into his pocket. "And Bertie was thorough in his work. He wouldn't have missed anything."

"I didn't specify anywhere outside my office and I don't want to risk that my inability to remember to be clear might negatively impact me." Anna steered them to a building and entered the underground garage. "I do hope he was thorough when he cleaned my flat."

"I know he's thorough when he cleans mine." John grabbed the basket of chips as Anna climbed out of the car and manipulated her bag before shutting the door. "I'll give him a ring."

"That'd be nice." Anna led the way to the lifts, clicking the fob to lock her car with a reassuring beep. "I do hope he's not too busy."

"All the excitement at your office earlier did him a world of good. Better than debriefing me about prison in Urdu and trying to tie up loose ends." John stood next to her in the lift, holding the basket toward her so she could select a few chips for herself. "Although you've got me curious what kinds of investigations you're running with your Mr. Charles."

"His name's Mr. Blake, technically speaking, and one of those investigations was about you so be as flattered as you can be about that."

"I'm beyond flattered." John paused, "Although I get the feeling that investigation started about the same time you decided to delve into the depths of Evergreen."

"They're related topics." Anna exited the lift, leading John to her door while she arranged her keys. "I found you through them."

"Because what's a private military contracting group doing at a school?"

"You already told me the answer to that and I told you that I already know you're a group doing all the work in the gray area between MI5 and MI6." Anna opened the door and waved a hand at her flat. "But in the course of my investigation I found some interesting notations about tactics."

"Tactics?"

"First, why didn't they help get you out of prison?" Anna closed the door behind them as John walked the short distance to put the basket of chips on the island before removing his jacket. "Why didn't your brothers-in-arms help you get free?"

"You're the one who discussed triage earlier." John pulled the sleeves straight and draped his jacket over the back of the barchairs. "You tell me why they wouldn't want to jump into a situation where their co-worker and subordinate might possibly be guilty of killing his wife."

"It doesn't speak well to your lifestyle."

"It's speaks to the work we do." John held up a finger as he pulled his phone from his pocket. It took a moment but then he nodded. "Bertie says he swept your flat and it's clean."

"Is now or always has been?"

"There were a few bugs but they haven't been active." John tucked his phone away and cringed, "By the looks of things you're not here often."

"I do hope that's not judgment in your voice." Anna left her bag on the same chair as John's jacket and opened the refrigerator to pull a few things out onto the island. "Because if it is then I'll be making food for one."

"It was a bit more bittersweet." John shrugged, leaning on the island as Anna continued to find a few things to leave on the counter. "Reminds me of my place before I was arrested."

"Your work keeps you busy." Anna placed the last container with the foodstuffs and pointed over John's shoulder. "Pots and pans in there. Grab me the largest saucepan and the second-largest pot please?"

"Need the skillet too?" John reached his hand up, grabbing the two requested items but seemingly itching to grab something else.

"Might as well." Anna unbuttoned her cuffs and rolled her sleeves back to her elbows. "Apron are in the drawer under the silverware."

"Group activity is it?" John handed over the requested items before digging out an apron for himself and allowing Anna to snatch one of her own. "I'm not much for cooking beyond toast and milk in cereal."

"We all learn sometime." Anna sorted through her materials and moved around John to collect the other necessary accouterments. "Did Bertie have an answer for my note?"

"He's checking your car as we speak." John shook his head, Anna trying to hide her laugh when he sucked in so she could get by and guide him to the fork and the plastic bowl to whisk eggs together. "And the bugs in your flat weren't entirely unexpected."

"If they got my office then they would've gotten here. I just wanted to be sure about the car."

"You don't bug check on your own?"

"I'm not living my life in the black, Mr. Bates." Anna stopped, holding a knife in one hand and a casing of meat in the other. "Which is something I want to ask you about."

"And just when we were getting along so well." John lifted his hands as Anna handed him another bowl to knead the meat with the egg and a variety of vegetables. "I'm a bit tied up, like your friend Blake."

"Charles isn't as tied as he'd like you to think."

"Hence the clicking in the background of his call?"

Anna nodded, "The message he sent about the itineraries was bogus. He'd never send it to me that way."

"Coded?"

"In a way. Charles is old school because he's obsessed with old spy novels. It's not fun if he doesn't get to practice some tradecraft."

"You know," Anna turned the various heats on and set about to cutting up potatoes while managing another sauce in the pan on simmer as John pivoted to wash his hand in the sink so she could take the meat he finished kneading. "For someone who doesn't live in the black, and seems to detest it, you're very experienced with it."

"I've got a lot of friends who didn't know what to do when they left the service and took the call when it came." Anna opened her oven to slide the meat pan inside. "I wasn't one of them."

"You never got the call?"

"I've gotten it more than once." Anna closed the door and managed the timer before turning to the sink herself. "I just never answer it."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to have to live my life like Mary does." Anna shook her head. "She still doesn't know all the details of Matthew's death because he was on the job when he died. She got some of the details just… Not enough."

John dried his hands so slowly that Anna had to tug on the tea towel so he released it. "I wish I could tell her more but-"

"I'm not trying to guilt you into telling me anything." Anna soothed, rubbing over his arm a moment before turning back to her pots on the stove. "It's just not a life I'd want to live for myself."

"You don't want to come home to tell lies to everyone everyday?"

"I don't have the temperament to tell that many lies about what I do." Anna let it all sit, facing John. "But I know what you can tell me about Black Mountain has more to do with what you were doing at the school that day."

"I told you, there was a threat and we went to handle it."

"I mean you." Anna folded her arms, "Anyone could've handled that case. Why did you go that day? And why chase Green and I down?"

"You mean because my job was to protect the child of a slightly crooked but well-connected individual?"

"That's a start."

"I was there for George."

"Why?"

John swallowed, matching her posture as he leaned on the back counter. "I've been keeping an eye on Mary and her family since Matthew died."

"That wasn't your fault."

"I know that and I came to terms with Matthew's death through some hard soul searching, but I'm not so healed that I didn't still feel guilt."

"About?"

"Wishing I could've done more." John's mouth moved as is he wanted to say something but needed to find the right words. "This is the more I can do now."

"So you're their Guardian Angel?"

"More of an observant uncle… Who's not creepy."

"I'll take that." Anna ducked her head toward the oven and checked the contents of the stovetop again. "I don't remember you from the funeral."

"I had to work that day but a few people went in my place. We were well represented there."

"I saw that. Too many men in dark sunglasses with those shoulders that never relax because they're always on the lookout." Anna gave John a sad smile. "That's why I could never do your job. I don't want to feel like I'm always being watched."

"But we found out today that you're already being watched."

"Then I hope they enjoyed the show."

"I'm being serious."

"So am I." Anna let out a breath, "I'm not an idiot and I know that I bit off a bit more than I could probably comfortably chew when I investigated Evergreen but what else was I supposed to do? They had something to do with a man putting a gun to my head and then blowing himself up in a freezer. I had to do something."

"And now you're on their radar."

"I did say we've both got targets on our backs."

"And I'm saying that whatever it is you want to know about what I do won't help you deal with the home-grown terrorists waiting to stop whatever investigation you're running into their work."

They faced off, Anna narrowing her eyes at him. "The reason I started investigating Black Mountain was because the tactics were similar."

John blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"The tactics. The way the man cleared the room when he entered. I've seen that posture before because I used it. And when he grabbed me, for as nervous as he should've been with that bomb strapped to his chest, he was calm. That's training, not indoctrination." Anna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I worried that your Black Mountain might express a few rogue elements."

"Elements like Evergreen?"

Anna nodded, "Highly trained individuals looking for a purpose after they finished their service in countries where they were the enemy and savior depending on who flipped the coin. Service that left them scared and jumping at shadows when they woke up from nightmares. A purpose that used their skills while also helping them feel a bit more normal." She waited, "Doesn't it sound like something a few of your friends might've tried."

"But to strap a bomb to your chest takes something a bit more…"

"Mad?" Anna bit the inside of her cheek with a shrug. "Yes but it's not impossible."

They did not speak as Anna checked on the food again. She took the pot with the potatoes out and gestured to the salt, butter, cream and the mixer. John took the hint and assembled the parts to take the steaming potatoes in hand.

"You're lucky."

"How's that?" Anna waited as John stood over her.

"Because I can actually do something with potatoes." John moved in like he might risk a kiss but then backed away with the pepper and a grin.

"Tease."

"I'm hungry."

"So am I." Anna licked over her teeth and leered at John's shudder.

"Food first."

"I repeat," Anna pouted, minding the food still on the stove. "Tease."

"Go back to talking about terrorists and I'm sure we can handle your libido."

"Alright," Anna motioned with the spoon she used in the sauce. "Tell me how a ground of ex-soldier mercenaries makes their way to England without a trace and makes friend with someone like Carlisle?"

"He knew my wife so I'd say his association with less desirable elements of society shouldn't surprise us." John raised his voice over the mixer. "But I see your point about organization."

"They're ghosts and in this day and age that shouldn't be possible."

"If you work for the people I do then it is."

Anna stopped, fingers tightening around the spoon in her hand. She shifted to look at John, "What if that's it?"

"What?"

"What if they are you?" Anna turned off the burners and the oven, untying her apron quickly.

But before she could get it over the back of the barchairs someone knocked on the door. Both froze but Anna held up a hand to stop John moving toward her. She wrapped her fingers around a knife from the block and spun it in her hand a moment before laying the blade along her arm and walking to the door.

Her eye went to the door and she opened it in a rush so Phyllis could enter the foyer. The woman's eyes were wide and Anna stepped back, maneuvering to keep the knife out of sight. Phyllis barely acknowledged John in the kitchen as she spoke quickly to Anna.

"I went back to Mrs. Bartlett's house, to try and get answers about that thumb drive from her, and she's gone Anna. Just gone."

"Like packed up and left kind of gone?"

"Like door unlocked and the place looking ransacked." Phyllis shuddered, "I already called Mrs. Crawley and Mr. Branson about it but I think someone might've done something to her."

"Because someone robbed her house?"

"Her TV was still there, Anna. They were looking for something which means whatever she gave us wasn't the only thing she had." Phyllis pulled at her fingers, "I think someone knew she had something else and they tried to blackmail her to get to us."

"And then she ran for it?"

"If it was an organization with enough pull to put a virus on a thumb drive that almost wiped out our records and bugged our office I wouldn't put it past them." Phyllis finally turned toward John and jumped when she noticed how close he was. "I think this is a bit bigger than a murder trial."

"I'm starting to think I should've bought some foil for a hat." Anna rubbed her hand over her forehead. "You said Mary and Tom are on the case?"

"I called them the moment I felt something was off. They've got the house under investigation but I don't know what else they're doing about it."

"Maybe they find her holed up in some hotel playing some live-action-role-playing game or something."

"Would that we could be so lucky." John muttered and Anna put a hand on Phyllis's shoulder.

"I want you to go home and not worry over this. You did what you could and that's enough. It's out of our hands now."

"I'm just…" Phyllis tugged on her fingers again. "I'm worried she was our best lead and now we've blown it."

"I think we'll find a way around it." Anna moved her toward the door, "Keep me updated but get some rest. I don't want you worried over this since there's nothing more we can do."

"Anna-" Phyllis lowered her voice so Anna had to bend toward her. "I think this might have to do with that other investigation."

"Me too." Anna rubbed over the other woman's shoulder. "It'll be alright."

"Even if it won't be?"

"Even then."

Phyllis left and Anna faced John, after double locking her door. "How much experience do you have with making people disappear?"

"Better than they do apparently."

"So they're scraping the bottom of the barrel then?" Anna moved around him to the kitchen, taking all the pieces of dinner and putting it together on plates to hand him one. "So maybe not your caliber but that kind of MO must mean something."

"That Angela Bartlett knew a bit more about my wife and her dealings with Carlisle than anyone was comfortable with her knowing." John set his things on the table, moving to Anna's refrigerator to find drinks while she dug out silverware and glasses. "Although I'm impressed you can have a conversation this coolly after you just found out there's a woman missing, potentially kidnapped, who's integral to your investigation."

"If there's one thing I learned very well in my time of service," Anna joined John at the table, "It's that you take things as you can deal with them. It's not worth the effort to waste energy on something twice."

"Twice?"

"Once worrying about it, agonizing over it, fearing it and then again when it hits you." Anna shrugged, sipping at her drink. "There's one way to handle it and that's to realize that it'll either kill you or it won't."

"And that doesn't worry you?"

"If it kills me then it was wasted energy trying to fight the inevitable. If it doesn't then there was never any reason to be worried." Anna winked at John over her glass. "I'd rather use that energy for other things."

"I do hope you're not about to make a lewd suggestion."

"I hope I don't even need to make a suggestion." Anna dug into her food. "But I guess if you need a map I'll tell you that my room is just down the hall."

"I'm more interested in your bathroom."

"It's got double sinks and a nice glass shower-"

John flicked her with his napkin.

The rest of their meal passed far more peacefully. And even the simple domesticity of clearing up afterward managed to relax them both so that when Anna finally hung the tea towel over the bar of the oven she sighed with him. "Are you ready for me to take you home, Mr. Bates?"

"I'd rather you didn't, if it's all the same to you." John crowded her toward the counter, "But I'm not sure exactly how you feel about me trying to soil your countertops after we've just wiped them down."

"I don't believe in sex in my kitchen when there are much better options." Anna slipped under his arm, walking backward down the hallway toward the bathroom. "Like my Jacuzzi style bathtub."

"I do seem to remember something about one of those." John followed her, leaving his shoes by the door before joining her at the door to her bathroom. "And you're right, this is a rather lovely bathroom."

"It's a great place for me to have my way with you."

"I thought I was the one going to use the bubbles to my advantage." John traced a finger up her arm as Anna dug her hands into his shirt to pull him after her into the bathroom. "Did I forget to tell you about bubbles?"

"No, I remember." Anna turned away from him, bending over to manipulate the faucet so steaming water poured into the tub. "It's just-"

She gasped out when John's body draped over hers and he trailed kisses over the exposed portions of her neck while his hands grabbed at her hips to keep her locked close to where he rose to the occasion. "You were saying, Ms. Smith?"

"It's just that I had other plans since it's my flat."

"Lately all the places we do it are your places." He followed each word with a loosened button on her blouse. "The house you arranged for me, your office, your car, and now your flat."

"Is that a complaint I hear?" Anna tried to rib him but his hands over her abdomen and flicking the familiar button of her trousers open stopped her.

"It's more…" He drew out his response in time with leaving her blouse to gather more wrinkles on the tile floor. "I think you like being in control, Ms. Smith."

"I do."

"Then maybe," John leaned around her, leaving a trail of kisses over her shoulders and neck before dipping his hand into the rising water and turning it off. "We need to practice loosening the reins."

"Says the man who took me twice on my desk today."

"Needs must." John allowed his wet hand to snake between her trousers and knickers to leave his warm fingers trailing over the fabric so she shuddered under him. "I'd have rathered taken you on those sofas in your office but you do business there."

"I'd rather do you there."

"Then we'll save that idea for later." Anna closed her eyes when John's finger pressed against her clit, using the material of her knickers to rasp over her fizzing nerves. "Right now, I'd like to help you relieve some tension you seem to be gathering."

"It's all your fault so I'd hope you'd solve the problem." Anna forced her eyes open and chose a spot on the wall with a tiny chip in the tile when her trousers and knickers hit the floor to leave her in just her bra.

"What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't?"

"Not for me to say." Anna hissed when his finger entered her, his thumb rubbing enough for her to spread her legs further and lean over the edge of her tub. "Although if you don't hurry then the water'll be cold and the point'll be moot."

"I'm sure we could find a way to warm it up."

"Then I don't think you understand how science and kinetics work." Anna cried out when his finger stroked down a spot inside her that left her legs shaking. "Bastard."

"Nope, I knew both of my parents and not only were they married to each other." His breath blew hot on her back as he laid kisses everywhere before popping the clasp on her bra. "What's more, both of their names are on my birth certificate."

"You are a cruel man."

"Not really." His lips traced down her back while his other hand slipped under her dangling bra to tease her breasts. "If I were cruel I wouldn't do this."

"What?"

Anna's response came in a swift suck of his mouth over her clit. She shrieked, the echo bouncing off the walls of her bathroom, and slipped her bra from her arms. It hit the ground but her eyes closed a moment later for the colors to explode there. Colors that did not stop until she climaxed with her knuckles white on the side of her tub.

John caught her, helping her into the still blistering water. She tried to focus on him, her eyes hooded as her body succumbed to the dual sensations of her post-orgasmic stage and the warmth of the water, and managed a smile when he disrobed in front of her. He matched her smile and slipped in behind her.

And for a stretch she thought that would be all. But when his arm wrapped around her abdomen to hold her close for his other hand to journey back between her legs, Anna dug her nails into his thighs. He only chuckled, kissing at her neck.

"Ready for round two?"

"Not sure if it's fair."

"That's the thing about women," John traced her jaw, his elbow holding at her hip to rotate up and caress her breasts again. But slower this time, mindful of her sensitive nerves but still playing them like his instrument. "You can go for hours without a stop. I'm not that skilled."

"Population control." Anna huffed, using her shoulders and leverage to rock her hips onto his smooth fingers. "If you were going as often as we can, we'd never get anything done and there'd be babies everywhere."

"I do hope this isn't the conversation we have when you tell me that we're taking our statistical chances."

"I'm a woman in the modern age." Anna shook her head, risking a hand away from her anchor to pulled his lips to hers so they could look at one another. "I'm on birth control."

"That's not always effective."

"It's enough for me." She paused, noting the way his fingers only slightly brushed against her now. "Is it enough for you?"

"Would you tell me if it didn't work?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm alright with it." John took her lips and drove his fingers into her.

She slid her hand into his hair to hold him steady as she took charge of the kiss. His fingers at her breast and buried in her set the pace for them to follow. And they chased it as if it was the last drop of water in a desert.

When Anna came again, pulsing and rippling around John's fingers, he brought his legs up. She frowned when he broke their kiss and tipped them forward. The moment her hands gained a secure hold on the side of the tub, John spread her legs enough to thrust forward.

Her head went back, the wet strands of her hair falling loose from her updo to slap against her shoulders. John's hand covered one of hers while the other massaged her ass with each snap of his wet skin against hers. Anna bent her knees and spread her legs a bit wider to take him as deeply inside her as she could before losing herself to the rhythm of their bodies against one another.

Their mutual grunts, moans, and the whimpers rebounded and amplified until all Anna could hear was them. Her body tightened and released, leaving her sagging in the water with only John to keep her stable. But the climax lasted longer than the others as his continued ministrations dragged the pleasure to the very minutest point of joy. When he found it, John joined her there.

They sagged back into the water, Anna leaning her head against his shoulder in the cooling water that helped restore their body temperatures. Her fingers skated over his hand and arm, idling tracing it in the water before she turned to face him. No words matched the kiss she left on his lips before pushing herself out of the water.

With a wink she grabbed a towel and drained the tub, "There weren't any bubbles."

"Next time." He promised, following her lead and grabbing the spare towel for himself. "I've got to get myself around the details of your tub."

"It's not too complicated." Anna pulled the towel tight, tucking in the corner to cover herself before bending to retrieve her clothes from the floor. "And neither is the bedroom."

"I'd hope so."

Anna turned down the bed and sorted through her clothes as John joined her in the room. "Pick whichever side you want."

"Don't you have a favorite?"

"I sleep in the middle of the bed." Anna smiled as John hung the towel over the back of a chair and reached for his boxers. "You don't need those."

"What?" John stopped, "Why not?"

"Because they'll get in the way." Anna removed her towel, snapping it to drop in the hamper. "In the middle of the bed Mr. Bates."

He climbed into place and Anna crawled over to him, straddling his waist. She dragged her hands over his chest, nicking with her nails occasionally to leave him hissing and her smiling at the hint of a rise. When she reached his hips, Anna retraced her progress in the opposite direction with her mouth to leave him shivering at the assault of her lips on his skin.

Her hands matched him beat for beat and tripped over him so he started to straighten. Their eyes met and Anna held his gaze when she trailed her tongue from his neck to the tip of his erection. But his eyes closed like a snapping door when she took him in her mouth and he did not open them again until her fingers manipulated his sack.

When his hips bucked toward her, Anna pulled back and climbed forward to position herself just over him. Once there she stopped to wait for him to look at her. "For all your talk of control, you've got an exceptional level of it."

"Practice."

"I think it's something else." Anna leaned down, her lips next to his ear. "I think you want to let go but you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"You are." Anna drew back, her hand framing his face to hold his gaze. "Don't be afraid with me John. Let go."

His hands closed over her hips and dragged her down. Anna could do little else but hold on as John took charge. He did not flip them, as she expected, but he manipulated her like a skilled puppeteer maneuvering a ragdoll. A ragdoll he left shooting to new heights of pleasure.

Each touch, each kiss, each almost-painful thrust or grip only worked Anna to the excruciating edge that he then stopped her reaching. At the point she was almost sobbing with frustration, body screaming for release and practically vibrating with tension, John pressed his fingers against her. She shattered around him and could barely comprehend his finish.

Only after, still shivering through the aftershocks as she rested on his chest, did Anna lean up for a kiss. John gave it to her, turning them so they laid on their sides. He traced her face with gentle fingers and down her arm. "I hope you don't regret it."

"Regret what?"

"Any of it."

"I couldn't." Anna shook her head, "I'm who I was meant to be and you're helping with that."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"But you've already been put in danger and-"

"Mr. Bates." Anna put her finger over his mouth, "We've been through a lot, you and I. Can't we just have moments like this to enjoy being alive?"

John smiled, "I think so."

"Good." Anna kissed him and moved closer so they wrapped on the edges of the other. "Then I think we should go to sleep with that thought."

"Good idea."

"I have them occasionally." Anna giggled against him, her head resting over his heart and allowing the steady beat to lull her to sleep.


	11. Found Body

John turned, adjusting under the sheet and blinking as his hand rested on something soft and warm. He frowned and then smiled when he recognized the bare back of Anna. With a grin, he leaned forward and kissed over her back until she shivered and craned her head over her shoulder to face him.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." She grinned at him, her brow furrowing slightly. "What's got you smiling so widely?"

"Shouldn't I be?"

"I'm just curious why."

"It's not enough that I woke up next to you instead of alone?" When she shook her head, John kissed her quickly, "We finally got the bed we wanted."

"No we didn't."

John frowned and motioned around them. "This looks an awful lot like a bed to me unless the English language definition changed overnight and no one told me."

"I'm not arguing that it's a bed."

"Then what's the argument?"

"I said I wanted to do it in a bed." Anna rotated on her shoulder to lay on her back, head turned to stare at him as he brought a hand up to support his head. "I didn't say this was the bed I wanted."

"Isn't it?"

"It's a bed. Not _the_ bed."

"Then what kind of bed do you want?"

"One with sheets that have a thread count is obscenely high, the bed feels like a marshmallow, and the pillows are so comfortable you can't hear you alarm clock."

"Speaking of," John reached over toward the bedside and fumbled around a moment. He frowned when he could not find his phone and then sighed, leaving the warmth of the bed and a squealing Anna, to retrieve his trousers. Digging out his phone, John flicked through the alerts and dismissed them before turning back to the bed. He met Anna's eyes, propped as she was against the pillows to study him, and grinned. "See something you like?"

"I see a lot of things I like."

"And what, Ms. Smith, would you want me to do about that?"

"That depends."

"On?" John let his phone drop to the bedside table and crawled up the bed to put his hands on either side of her covered hips, his knees next to hers as they lay shrouded under the sheet, and his eyes level with her own.

"On whether or not I exhausted you last night." Anna risked dropping the sheet a fraction, so it pulled over the tops of her breasts and left it pointed around her nipple, to run a finger along the side of his face. "I'd hate to think you'd be too tired for a repeat performance."

"Firstly, I try not to repeat." John lowered his head, kissing along her jaw. "It gets people bored and leads to questions about ability."

"Does it now?" Anna laid back slightly on the pillows, resisting only slightly when John tugged the sheet down. "I'll keep that in mind and continue my yoga."

John's growl vibrated up her jaw, "You're terrible."

"Only as terrible as you." Anna gasped out when his hand ran over her breasts, brushing her sensitive nipples. "What's the second thing?"

"Hm?" John dragged his tongue back along her jaw to trace to the other side and nip at her earlobe.

"You said 'firstly' which makes me think-" Anna stopped, her eyes clamping shut when John's fingers twisted and kneaded at her skin.

"Think what?"

"That there are other items on your list." Anna raised a hand to his face, pulling it from a trek toward her neck to stare at him. "Was there anything else?"

"Secondly," John teased, ducking under her hand to kiss her lips and then go back to her neck. "I'll never be too tired for this."

"Never?"

"Well," He sucked a spot above her pulse and raised his head enough to meet her eyes. "At least not at the pace we're going so far."

"Then I'll assume you've got plans in that direction."

"I wouldn't be trying to kiss my way down to your breasts if I didn't." John seized the moment and dropped his head to suck at one of her breasts.

Anna's head fell back, knocking slightly against her headboard, and John raised his gaze to check on her. But Anna pushed him away, forcing his lips back to attention at her breast while his hand took care of the other one. When he sucked a red spot on the first breast, and left Anna keening as he nipped her skin, John turned his attentions to her other breast.

They slipped on the sheets, John catching himself with one hand to stop an inevitable collapse on Anna, and settled with Anna laid flat on the bed. She twisted the sheet under them and John maneuvered to strip it back and leave her body exposed to his view. With a slight shift John nudged his way between her legs and accepted the leg she hooked over his hip to try and bring him closer.

But John resisted her insistent pull. He did sink into her, rubbing himself along her shamelessly to leave Anna whimpering at the pressure on her clit, but continued his ministrations at her breasts. Shunting hips met his rising erection and John almost bit into Anna's skin as he tried to hold himself back from rutting into her. A quick kiss, surrendering to the claw-like hold she immediately used when she gripped his face to control their motions, and John slid himself lower along her body.

It drove Anna's legs further open as they now wrapped his chest, but John only used his hands to smooth over the skin there. Tiny divots, the reminders of the small scars of life from the nicks of a razor or the occasional bump into solid objects, told the life story of Anna Smith under his calloused fingers. And while John dreamed for a moment of the day he could trace each one of these tiny indicators of existence, he focused on running his tongue into her bellybutton before tracing her hips with his lips.

She writhed under him, hips still bucking to hit into his chest, and let out little sounds at the hair on his chest scraped the highly sensitive skin at the crux of her thighs. The skin John tongued over while his fingers played their own version of a song there. The skin that swelled with blood as John continued to tease with his tongue. The skin that gave over to his attentions when John sucked it between his teeth. The skin that rippled and vibrated with Anna's moans and echoed the quiver of her muscles to tremble in the grip of his fingers and lips. The skin he licked and laved until he tasted her. The skin that eventually surrendered to him when Anna cried out.

Pulling back, and running his tongue over his lips, John gazed at the area. It pulsed in time with the rush of Anna's blood he felt thunder under his hands in her thighs. John grinned and dived back in to continue licking and sucking at her. This time his fingers took more of a part, entering her and sliding in time with his attentions to her clit until Anna's fingers tugged the sheet under them so hard John almost toppled forward. Only his palms pressing into the mattress kept him at his work until Anna screamed her second end.

This time John did not have time to attend to the evidence before Anna's nails dug into his skin and hauled him toward her. Their lips crashed together, the secure grip Anna exerted on his scalp keeping him in her grasp. But she did not try and flip them or take control from that angle. Instead she lifted her hips and shuffled under him until his erection teased her entrance. For a moment John tempted himself into thinking he could tease her further but when Anna pressed up on her heels she sank onto him until their bodies could move no further.

She clung to him, arms wrapped over her shoulders to hold the awkward position, and her hot breath beat on his neck. John rocked his hips back, sliding to the very edge and leading Anna to lay back on the bed. With a hand on her thigh and another keeping their kiss a bit more gentle so it would not bruise her skin too thoroughly, John thrust forward.

It took everything John had not to come apart at the slick sound of their bodies joining or the way Anna groaned while tossing her head back to arch her neck. Almost as a distraction to himself, John immediately set to attacking her neck with kisses until he could trust himself not to lose all his self-control in a mindless drive to continue with the wet sounds they could make. Anna, however, had different plans.

Her nails gripped his side and his ass, twisting her body to sink him more deeply inside her with the drawing up of her legs, and held there while tried to grind against gravity. John nipped at her skin and rocked his hips into her as her legs tightened around his waist. The impatient scrape of her nails finally broke him in time with her whisper.

"I thought I said you could let go."

John did. His hands took their positions at her hip and thigh so one could hold her in place and the other opened her to his drives. Then it was off to the races. A punishing pace set to move faster and harder at Anna's bids. And she never stopped bidding it until John wondered if there was truly a way to obey either command.

They ground into one another, maneuvering themselves to try and reach those places that left the other gasping and groaning, and finally resorted to the tactile sensations their fingers could add. John kissed every bit of skin he could reach on Anna between the air he sucked between his teeth to fill starving lungs. Her lips set him ablaze with their kisses in times with the raking of her nails as if she planned to leave those furrows for spring planting. And when his fingers tried to bring her nerves to obey him, Anna trembled and tossed against him with grasping and grabbing hands.

Eventually Anna screeched over the edge again, her body sliding over John's in a combination of sweat and slick that still drove the wet noises of skin meeting skin into John's permanent memory. It overwhelmed his senses and the rippling of her muscles trying to hold him in place as she finished did him in. John let his body stutter to the primal finish while his regular brain only sought desperately for ways to get air.

They sagged against one another as John climaxed, careful not to bury Anna's slight weight under him. A bit of a shuffle that almost tangled them in the already mangled sheets, finally got them on their sides. Fingers intertwined and John held there while he considered what he might say if he could ever get enough air to actually inflate his lungs.

But the moment passed when Anna's phone rang. She pulled away, rolling and kicking on the bed to escape the hold of the sheets, and found her phone. Sitting on the edge of the bed, her back smooth and exposed, John could not ignore the opportunity.

He dragged himself toward her, as quietly as possible, and set to kissing over her spine. She shivered and straightened slightly but continued her focus on the call that had her giving occasional responses that remained less than five syllables. And with the full knowledge there was nothing he could physically be ready for- although his body surprised him in her presence- John let his fingers dance over her skin to find her seam from the back and the front at the same time.

Anna almost arched off the bed, somehow maintaining her decorum on the phone, and stood. All it did was leave her exposed so John could lick over her while his hand held at her hip. One of her hands hit the bedside table on her side, gripping so hard John could see the white of her knuckles. All it did was drive him, between fingers and tongue, to leave Anna shaking as she came again with a huff and a sigh.

"What?" She managed, one of her hands digging into John's hair to pull him away from his attempts to clean her with his tongue. "No, I just missed a stair and it stopped my heart a moment. Please go on."

Dodging out of his hold, and shooting him a glare that had her licking her lips at the same time, Anna moved to the other side of the room. John groaned, his body rising to the occasion at the sight of Anna's naked body pacing her room. But just as he contemplated how to get her up against the wall or back on the bed, Anna's next words killed any thoughts in that direction.

"They did what?" Anna waved her hand for John to join her and turned the phone to speaker. "What did they find?"

"It's better if we get there." John frowned at the sound of Ms. Baxter's voice. "DCI Crawley said she didn't want to give any details over the phone."

"Probably best." Anna rubbed at her forehead. "I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Sooner might be better in this case."

"Are they still getting the equipment there?"

"Yes. There was an accident and so it's been delayed but they're be there as soon as they can break through the traffic."

"I'll be there soon. Thank you Phyllis."

"I'll not go, if it's all the same to you. Given what it might be I think…"

"I understand. Just… Get the work together for court this afternoon and I'll go and check it out myself." Anna ended the call and turned to John. "Phyllis says they found Angela Bartlett."

"From your tone it's not that she was holed up in a hotel watching bad daytime TV."

"Definitely not." Anna dug in her wardrobe for clothes. "Unfortunately I don't have new clothes for you so-"

"I'm good with these." John picked his off the floor, pulling them into his arms as Anna turned to look at him. "What?"

"I was going to drop you at your place."

"Because you don't want anyone to know that we're shagging?"

"No, because I don't think you're technically supposed to be at an active crime scene."

John shrugged, "We could make it work."

"Just don't get too sore if they make me send you back to the car."

"Given my skills, it's best you use the defense you need to keep eyes on me at all times." John pointed toward the bathroom, "Mind if I shower?"

"Probably best we both do."

"Really?" John leered at her but Anna rolled her eyes.

"Not together because then we'll just be late."

"But there's a chance in the future?" John stalked toward her, Anna turning with her clothes in her hands.

"Of course there is." Anna took a moment on her tiptoes to kiss him before ducking around him to run to the shower. "I'll be quick."

"Not the words men usually like to hear."

"Women don't like them either." Anna called back and if she said anything else it immediately drown in the rush of expensive and efficient jets hitting the glass walls of her shower.

Between the two of them managing half of breakfast and switching between their morning preparations, they reached the address just as the equipment Ms. Baxter mentioned over the phone arrived. John bent forward over the dashboard of the car to see the entirety of the machine and shook his head. Anna made a sound of agreement and left the car.

Following quickly, hands buried in his jacket pockets, John shivered against the chill of the air. They walked together, dodging around the constables pulling tape around the scene to keep back the morning joggers, dog walkers, and hurrying business interns rushing about with coffee and tea orders in cup holders. John ducked his head to escape the notice of those sneaking glances toward the scene and joined Anna next to Mary Crawley as she glared at the water.

She turned to them and her shoulders sagged with the frown that turned the corners of her mouth down. With her focus on Anna but her finger pointed at John, Mary spoke. "What's he doing here?"

"I couldn't drop him at his in time to beat the crane here." Anna pointed at the equipment driving to the edge of the river as DCI Branson directed the driver to the right position. "And I thought this was something I should see."

"Then Ms. Baxter decided it wasn't to her liking?"

"Phyllis has seen enough in her life to not need to add this to the list of things that might cause her nightmares." Anna tugged her coat tighter about herself. "How'd you find her? Phyllis only reported her missing last night."

"Funny thing that." Mary pointed to the crane as it dipped into the water where three individuals in diving gear guided the jaws deeper into the murky depths.

"Funny?" John pressed, pulling his collar higher to protect his neck from a blast of wind. "Funny how?"

Mary turned to him, eyes narrowing. "Not that it's any of my business what you were doing with Ms. Smith so early in the morning, but why are you here Mr. Bates?"

"Because I'm interested in what you've found out about Mrs. Bartlett. She was my alibi after all."

"It's not anything you should be anywhere near." Mary turned to Anna, almost hissing her next comment. "I could get sacked for allowing him here."

"Worth taking the risk?"

"I'm not sure." Mary turned back at the shout from DCI Branson and the three of them watched as the crane's jaws pulled the body of the drowned and dripping Angela Bartlett from the river. "You always hope you're wrong."

"Not your first river drudging then?" John whispered and Mary shook her head.

"First one was when I was still in York. A little boy we pulled from the Ouze after torrential rains swelled the river. He slipped on the bank, got caught in the stream, and off he went." Mary sighed, "But that's not what we're here to discuss."

"That's right." Anna spoke over the sound of what was left of Angela Bartlett's soaked and swollen body landing on the pavement next to the river and the whine of the metal as the jaws of the crane released to pull back. "You were about to tell us what was funny."

"Well you know our mutual friend, Charles?"

"We speak occasionally."

"So do we but see I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in a month and then suddenly he's dropping me a line."

"I'm sure he liked the turnabout of leaving you a message when you left me as the last one." Anna shrugged, leading their trio toward the body. "What'd he have to say?"

"Asked after my father, George, and a few friends but it was all perfunctory."

"Was it?"

"It had to be because then, out of bloody nowhere, he tells me I should be looking in the river. This precise spot, in fact."

"Odd." Anna stopped, her eyes narrowing as well. "What would Charles know about this?"

"I'm sure we should ask Big Brother," Mary raised her middle finger toward a CCTV cam aimed at their part of the river, "But I've got other things on my mind."

"Such as?"

"Such as how not even a day's gone by and we've found the body."

"Lucky surprise?" John risked and then shrank back a bit from Mary's glare.

"I don't get that feeling." Mary turned her scowl from John to Anna. "What've you asked him to do?"

"You think I asked for this?"

"If Charles didn't do this-"

"We needed her testimony, Mary. Charles wouldn't sink that for me, not when I've got favors to owe him."

"He always was a man for gaining an upper hand." Mary nodded at John, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Any ideas?"

John took a few steps closer to the body and sighed. With a shake of his head he pointed to her. "She's been tortured."

"As in?"

"Her fingernails are missing and I've got the feeling you'll find a lot more when you do the autopsy." John let his shoulders sag, "Whoever took her knew their business."

"Then she told them whatever they wanted to know?" DCI Branson came up to stand with them, shaking hands with Anna and then John. "Good to see you out and about Mr. Bates."

"Can you say that?"

"I never thought you were guilty." Branson checked his watch, "Don't you have a trail today or something?"

"We do, actually." Anna put a hand on John's arm. "We've got to prepare for it."

"Want me to send you copies of the reports?" Mary motioned toward the body. "Could be something for your case if you need to request them."

"Probably best." Anna nodded at John, "We've got to go."

They slunk off, dodging the reports that appeared at the scene, and hurried to Anna's car. She peeled away just as a few of the reporters seemed intent on their car and avoided any of the clicking cameras catching anything but the side of her car. John raised himself fully in the seat, settling back against it.

"They did this." John turned to Anna, noticing her focus entirely on the road before her. "This was Evergreen."

"You're sure?"

"I may need to buy enough foil to make us all hats but yes, I'm sure." Anna shook her head, blinking once. "Regular people don't remove your fingernails when they want something. They go at you with knuckles or even weapons but they don't take off your fingernails. That's the work of professionals, not normal people."

"I'll agree with you there." John chewed the inside of his cheek. 'But I think we're jumping the gun a bit."

"You're the one who noticed her nails were missing."

"And I think that working ourselves up about it won't do anyone any good." John turned to as she parked her car in the garage under her building. "Weren't you the one who said not to worry about it twice?"

"Do you always listen that carefully to people?"

"It's the training."

"Or maybe just your personality." Anna took a deep breath. "This case just gets twisted the more we delve into this."

"Want out?" John offered her a hand, "Because I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"Then you don't know me very well." Anna winked at him and opened the door. "Shall we?"


	12. Research and Discovery

Anna and John got off the lift, heading toward her office, when Phyllis rushed toward her with Joseph on her heels. A hand on John's arm stopped them in the corridor so the four of them formed an odd circle. Phyllis thrust a piece of paper toward Anna as she spoke.

"I think Mrs. Bartlett was murdered."

"The body pulled from the river would seem to indicate that's highly likely." Anna looked over the paper, scowling and turning back to Phyllis. "When'd you get this?"

"With this morning's post." Phyllis held up a flashdrive. "This came with it."

"Has-"

"I took the liberty of having Mr. Bates's friends take a good, hard look at it already and it's clean." Joseph cringed, "Unlike the last one."

"And what's on it?"

"If what she says in the letter is legitimate then it's the information she denied us the first time." Phyllis worried the flashdrive between her fingers. "She apologizes in the letter for lying to us."

"She also said they paid her before turning to threats." Anna handed the letter over to John. "I'm not sure they were satisfied with her silence either way since they tortured her before dropping her body in the river."

"Do we know exactly-" Phyllis blanched but Anna put a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll not worry about that. Whatever Mary and Tom find, we'll work with it and move on." Anna turned to Joseph, "I need you to look through this information and leave no stone unturned in it, understand?"

"Crystal clear." Joseph paused, "What'll you two do?"

"Mr. Bates still has a court date today and we're going to prep for that." Anna pointed toward her office. "Anything you find, send it to me as soon as we've verified it."

"What if it takes cash or a closer look?"

"You've got the reins on this Baxley." Anna stopped herself, blinking and then facing Phyllis and Joseph. "I'm so sorry. I just mashed your names and-"

"I actually kind of like the sound of that." Joseph preened a moment, twitching his head a bit as he did. "Makes us sound like we're in a crime drama or something. Like a partnership or-"

"We understand ma'am and we'll get right on it." Phyllis grabbed Joseph's sleeve and tugged him back toward her office, the flashdrive secure in her grip.

Anna opened the door to her office, letting John in before her, and closed it to lock before jumping back at the sight of a man on one of the sofas. "Charles! I told you to use the door."

"I did." He pointed at it. "You were occupied this morning so I couldn't reach you on your phone."

"There are other ways to tell me by phone." Anna dragged it out of her pocket, unlocking it to check. "You never left me a message."

"You never know who's listening when you leave messages."

"You're the one listening."

"Ah, Mr. Bates I presume." Charles extended a hand, "Charles Blake, old friend of Anna's here."

"I know a spook when I see one."

Charles paused, turning to Anna, "You did get that little gaffe fixed yes?"

"The only microphone in this office activates when I want it to and, so far, all it's picked up are sex noises."

"Daring."

"Deserved." Anna took a sofa and motioned both men down. "Why are you here Charles? We're doing prep work for John's trial."

"Does that start today?" Charles sat, tugging on his trousers a bit to give himself more slack at the knee. "It wasn't in all the papers and, you know me, I despise media coverage from a screen."

"Remind you too much of your fulltime job?"

Charles opened his mouth as if to speak but only gave a chuckle. "Mr. Bates, for someone who's worked on the shadowy edge of the law for as long as you have, I'd think you'd have a bit more respect for the kind of work I do."

"And what is that, exactly?"

"I'm the last defense of the Empire."

"I'm a little bothered you're still calling it 'The Empire'." Anna raised her hand, looking between the two men. "And that's not really why we're here, is it?"

"No." Charles cleared his throat. "I did a bit of research into your mystery men and I think I found something that might turn your heads a bit."

"But not help the case?"

"Considering the fact I'm even suggesting telling you any of what you're about to learn could land me in a dark hole for a long time, no." Charles swallowed, "The Evergreen group was one of ours."

Anna blinked and turned to John. "Did you ever-"

"We never worked with them." John pointed at Charles. "Black Mountain was supposed to be the only contract firm-"

"And you are." Charles shook his head, "It was before my time but someone once had the bright idea of starting their own little hit squad. People they could send out, like the SOE agents, and let nothing get traced back to them. People who answered those calls late at night and sent out similar calls. The kind of agents not subject to scrutiny, oversight, or political agenda."

"How'd that work out for them?"

"About as well as pissing on an electric fence." Charles rubbed his hands over his trousers. "A mission went wrong, all the details are redacted and the files had holes drilled through the drives so there's nothing to assemble there. All I know is when they were left hanging out to dry, someone here cleaned house. Made sure that anyone they'd try to contact couldn't answer and wouldn't so if they spilled anything it'd be bad intel and they'd get hacked to pieces or beheaded for videos."

"But they survived." Anna interrupted this time. "They weren't killed or-"

"From what I've gathered a few of them did the equivalent of chewing off their own foot to escape the trap. They banded together and decided that revenge suited them best and worked their way back here as soldiers of fortune." Charles shuddered, "They fell into some pretty dark holes and I don't think they got out."

"So now we've got highly trained terrorists who were part of a former hit squad ready to do what?" Anna opened her hands to Charles but he only shrugged.

"I tracked their associations with Mr. Carlisle but I think they got tired of being on his leash. I think they snapped and now he's floundering for a way to try and solve the problem."

"And Vera's death?"

Charles shook his head at John, "I haven't been able to track anything like that."

"Mrs. Bartlett left us a message, before she died." Anna pointed over her shoulder, "Maybe she's got the missing piece?"

"It'd have to be pieces and it's more than a few holes in a puzzle Anna. What I'm giving you are crumbs because that's all there's left about this." Charles stood, buttoning his coat. "But I did pull a string or two and I've got two people to testify for John here. About his whereabouts on the night of his wife's death."

"And?" Anna shot up, "What'll they say?"

"They can say he couldn't have been there because he was with them and give a general location but they can't go into other details. National security and all that."

"Is that going to fly?"

"Depends on the judge but," Charles winked at them, "I think I've found a judge who'll make that a tad easier."

"You've fixed the trial?"

"Mr. Bates," Charles put a hand to his chest, "Please don't do me the dishonor of believing I'd, in any way, try and make this anything but the perfect carriage of justice."

"You got us a sympathetic judge." Anna smiled at him.

"But not," Charles pointed between John and Anna, "Fixed the trial. Giving you a fighting chance, Mr. Bates, is all I can do but I'll do that to the fullest of my ability."

"Then I guess I owe you a bit of thanks."

"It's nothing." Charles stopped, turning to Anna, "And you did get my message, yes? Over the phone?"

"Yes and thank you for looking into it for me." Anna faced John, "Charles has arranged a possible new identity for you, should that be necessary."

"I've already got more than a few of those."

"And each and every one of them was turned over to Mr. Carlisle when he took an order to your boss." Charles dug into his pocket, handing over a folded manila envelope. "I do hope that suffices."

John took the folder, handling it carefully, "When'd you do this?"

"I'm sure you remember the conversation in Anna's car?" Charles put his hands in his pockets. "I couldn't do much more for you then but I could do that."

"You just gave us information on Evergreen, that's significant."

"But I couldn't promise that at the time." Charles nodded at the folder. "I could promise that and it's what I gave."

"By your tone I'm guessing this is the end of the line for us." Anna folded her arms over her chest and Charles nodded.

"I'm being transferred to run the field office in Hong Kong."

"Is this because-"

"Whether it is or it isn't, the key is that it doesn't matter." Charles scratched at his cheek before returning his hand to his pocket. "It's more… I think my bosses have grown a bit tired of the fact I'm not exactly toeing company line."

"Then it is my fault." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek as Charles shook his head.

"As much yours as Mary's really."

Anna stepped forward and pulled Charles into a hug. "I'm going to miss you."

"Miss the information I could sneak you, you mean?" He joked and then lowered his voice. "Be careful Anna. Black Mountain's not too different from Evergreen and if-"

"Shhh." Anna pulled back, shaking her head at him. "It's not at all the same, I promise you."

"Then I trust your judgment better than my own." He kissed her cheek. "Take care of yourself Anna. I'll not be there to save your ass should you need it again."

"Advice I'd give you." Anna pushed at his arm. "As I recall, I was the one who saved you."

"Give and take." Charles sidestepped her to shake John's hand. "I'll have you know, Mr. Bates, that Hong Kong is not too far for me to help… should you ever need it."

"And not far enough for you not to track me down should something happen to Anna, you mean?" John shook his hand. "I don't intend for anything to happen to her while I'm around."

"The I leave her in your capable hands." Charles pivoted on his heel toward the door but stopped, facing them again. "Although, she is quite the handful."

"Then it's a good thing I've got big hands."

"A very good thing." Charles opened the door, leaving the office, and Anna took his seat on the sofa as she watched him walk down the corridor to the lifts.

"Why do I have the vaguely depressing impression that I'll never see him again?"

"He's a spook, they've got nine lives."

"I think he wasted all of his on me." Anna patted the seat next to her. "We've got other things to discuss now."

"Like the trial?"

"In a moment." Anna swung her legs over him as he got comfortable. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to demonstrate how you plan on handling me with your rather large hands."

"Because you intend to seduce me on the sofa of your office?"

"I did wear a skirt today." Anna put her hands on his shoulders to leverage herself to the table running along the back of the sofa. Her hand fumbled there a moment before she found the button that dropped the shades on the glass of her office. "And I do find myself remarkably easy to seduce with you around."

"Especially when I'm saying things about having large hands to use?" John's hands moved over her thighs, pushing her skirt higher and higher with each motion. "Could that be the reason?"

"It's definitely one of them." Anna held his face in her hands. "We will take care of each other, won't we?"

"I'm here for you however," John dipped his head under her jaw, kissing there as his hands snuck under her skirt. "Wherever," She held tightly to the back of his neck and rolled her hips against his when his fingers worked under the edge of her knickers. "And Wherever."

"Right here, right now, and as quickly as possible."

"My pleasure."

His fingers pulled her knickers to the side so he could enter her. She scrunched her eyes closed at the sensation, a slight bite to it until her body responded to his attentions, and then rolled her hips into his hand. John's other hand held at her hip and pulled her skirt further and further up her legs so she could spread around him better.

Anna hummed, her fingers spearing into John's hair as he continued kissing along her throat, and adjusted to send John's fingers deeper inside her. A tip of his head brought their lips together and Anna sank into the kiss, holding him close to her as she dragged her tongue along his bottom lip. The vibration of his response, a growling from the back of his throat, rolled through Anna and she pressed further to open his lips for her exploration.

A slight motion under Anna almost distracted her from their kiss but John's thumb flicking her clit broke their kiss completely. She bit her lip to keep herself crying out as John continued to stroke his fingers inside her to find the place that kept her quivering like an exposed nerve. And when he played his hand at both locations simultaneously, Anna buried her head in his shoulder and bit down to keep from screaming.

It took a bit more than a shuffle and adjustment to expose him as their kisses and seeking distracted them from their intentions. But John's bare ass soon rested on the cushions and Anna shoved his trousers and boxers down his legs so she would not catch her legs in them and knock her head against his. They only paused long enough to grin at one another before John's hand at Anna's hip dragged her down onto him.

With her skirt bunched up at her waist, Anna frowned at the slight impediment between them. John caught her expression and bucked his hips into hers to make her groan. She tried to scowl but his fingers took to her buttons and slowly pried them open to expose her chest to him.

"You look a little perturbed, Ms. Smith." He bent his head forward, rolling his hips into hers so Anna's head went back. "Might I do something to help that?"

"That depends." Anna leaned toward him as his mouth moved from her neck to her freshly revealed torso. "What do you have planned?"

"You'll like it." His fingers flicked open the front clasp on her bra and Anna dug her nails into the back of his skull as he took her breast in his mouth.

Each sucking motion that left red marks over her skin timed perfectly with his thrusts into her. Every time he nipped at her skin his hips ground into hers. And whenever he kissed toward her nipples his fingers teased at her clit.

Anna gyrated with him, her knees giving her the leverage she needed to rock and bounce when John urged her or ride the long, slow strokes he steadily replaced with faster, short ones. The ones that had them panting together between kisses Anna forced on him to gain back with his pleasure in returning them. She twisted closer to him, trying to match his attentions to her lower body with her mouth on his but what gave his eyes the frantic look was when her hand joined his between them. A flick of her fingers slipped over him and John's eyes scrunched shut so tightly the skin around his sockets went white.

They broke together a second later, Anna moving her hair to the side to take John's lips in another deep kiss she only broke when colors dotted her vision. Her fingers tried to arrange his hair back in place but it stuck up in odd places now. Places she recognized as where her hands indented to hold onto him more tightly.

"I think I've rather mussed you." Anna patted at his locks but John caught her hand, kissing the inside of her wrist. "Sorry about that."

"I'm not." He traced his finger up her breastbone, flirting near her breasts again. "I think I rather like this look on you."

"Thoroughly shagged?" Anna pulled back just enough to make a show of looking him over. "I rather like the look on your too."

"Good." John's arm wrapped around Anna's back and flipped them sideways so she stretched the length of the sofa. "Because I want to see it again."

"And how'll you manage that?"

"You speed up my recovery period." John moved against her and Anna tugged her bottom lip with her teeth to stop herself crying out as he slid along her again. "Although, I should probably ask…"

"I'm up to date on all my medications." Anna grinned at him, her vision a little hazy. "Don't think I haven't noticed our blatant disregard for this like protection."

"If you're taking something then," John shifted, dragging himself out to run along her seam. "It's enough for me."

"Good, because I don't care how good you are, there's no way you're pulling out in time." Anna notched her leg over his hip, pulling him toward her. "And I don't have a spare change of clothes before your trial."

"I've already wrinkled your skirt."

"That'll be under the robes." Anna bucked her hips to meet the drive of his until they rutted against one another. "Only I'll know."

"And me."

"I should hope so." Anna dug her knee into the back of the sofa to spread wider and pull him closer. "You're the one mussing me."

"It's a mutual thing." John kissed her, one of his hands holding at her hips to try and control his motions. "It's a good look for you."

"Not one I want to share with the world." Anna dragged her fingers over the back of his shirt as his head bent to take charge of caring for her breasts again. "Holy hell!"

The stick and screech of their bodies moving over the leather of the sofas sounded like discordant notes in Anna's ears. She tried to bury the sounds in the repetition of their bodies meeting and the wet suck of their motions. It was not enough and so she ran her hand between their bodies to work over herself. The position ran her fingers over him as well and John stuttered a moment before sucking more fiercely at one of Anna's breasts.

She broke with a flutter of her fingers over her clit and the strangling cling of her vaginal walls around him. John bucked and shunted a few more times before he came. Their bodies vibrated and twitched with the last of their energies before settling on the sofa. A careful maneuver in and of itself as John worked to not crush Anna into the cushions and she tried to disentangle herself from around him.

When she managed to reverse the pretzel shape she took, Anna lay back on the cushions. Her chest rose and fell in an attempt to fill her starved lungs and she forced a shaking hand through her hair to try and contain the mess there now. All it did was catch her fingers and she shook them free before snorting.

"What?"

"We do this far too much to be healthy."

"Physically it's actually quite healthy." John dragged a hand over his face and then back into his hair. "It helps with weight loss, heart health, blood flow, and-"

"And increases your libido apparently." Anna pushed a hand behind her to sit up, her legs laying over his on the sofa and her shirt still gaping while her bra hung off her shoulders. "But that's not what I meant."

"I'm guessing you're talking emotionally, not physically?"

Anna nodded, "We do this instead of building any kind of relationship."

"This isn't a relationship?" John ducked her glare. "No, I know what you mean. Sorry for making light of it."

"I don't blame you." Anna put both arms behind her to tip her head back, "Shagging has always been easier than actually investing in a relationship."

"Depends on who you were shagging." John shrugged, "You're the best ones I've ever had and it's a lot easier to work with you than a great many people I've tried it with before."

"I hope we're not about to compare numbers."

"No," John shook his head. "I'm not interested in who's come before and, although it might be hard to admit, if there is someone after then there's not much I can do about that."

"That's the thing." Anna scooted forward, holding her arms around her knees to put her eyes on the same level as John. "I enjoy sex with you and, at the moment, I can't say I'd want there to be anyone after you."

"I'll turn you lesbian?"

"You've spoiled me for anyone else." Anna swatted at him, "With as great as it's been and as much as I like the sex we have, and trust me I like it, I-"

"I guessed you liked it based on the noises you make when you come."

Anna raised a warning finger, "That's not the point."

"You're worried that it's not enough." John grew serious, "And you're right, it's not."

"For now, maybe, but long term…?" Anna shook her head. "Even for as healthy as it makes us, you and I both know that there's nothing more guaranteed than the idea that we'll all die."

"Momento Mori?"

"Exactly." Anna sucked the inside of her cheek. "I don't know if you want a long-term thing or whatever but-"

"But you want one?"

"At this point I wouldn't mind entertaining the idea."

"I wouldn't mind it either." John let his head loll back on the sofa. "Even given the fact that less than four months ago I was sitting in a cell, accused of killing my wife, and I can't say I'm the most put-together person."

"I can't claim that either." Anna turned her head to check the time. "We have to go or we'll be late and that won't look good."

"We didn't even prepare for trial."

"We'll have to do it on the way." Anna reached to the coffee table and yanked tissues from the box, cleaning over herself as best she could before resetting her knickers and pulling her skirt down. "It'll have to do."

"Do you have the wig too or just the robe?"

"I've got the whole getup." Anna winked at him, kicking the tissues into his lap. "Come on. We've got to get going."

"Do you think Ms. Baxter and Mr. Moseley got anything off that drive?"

"Not that we'll have time to enter into evidence before we appear today." Anna ducked into the loo right off her office and checked herself over, fixing her hair and makeup before wiping herself down with a few of the wet wipes. "Whatever they find they'll need to verify for us before we can use it. I won't have anything stabbing me in the back if I enter it in as evidence."

"Solid approach." John's voice carried over the office as Anna finished and exited the loo. "What about the witnesses that Mr. Blake promised?"

"Who do you think he got?"

"I know there are a number of them who'd volunteer but only a few could actually swear under oath to have seen me that night without perjuring themselves." John redid his tie and grabbed for his jacket. "But it all depends on what they can actually say under oath."

"National security must be such a drag."

"It is when you're on this side of it." John chuckled, "I finally feel a touch of sympathy for all those poor constables and officers we trod over getting our work down."

"The little ants you never noticed before?"

"More like the people in lines at banks." John checked himself over, "Am I ready for this?"

"Considering you showed up to enter your plea in a leather jacket, this judge'll be far more impressed you actually managed a sport coat." Anna dusted at his lapel. "Next time I need to plan your suit better."

"You didn't mind it when you helped it wrinkle past my knees."

"I didn't feel like knocking our heads together if I tripped up in it while trying to shag you senseless." Anna teased, grabbing her things. "The key, with the trial, is not to hide from the problems you and your wife were having. They'll be used as motive and you need to own each and every one of them."

"Because otherwise I look like I'm hiding something."

"People with obvious problems are usually those trying to either solve them or get away from them. People who murder their spouses are usually at the end of their rope."

"Then it's a good thing I've got a long rope."

Anna stopped, shaking her head, "I wouldn't use that line."

"Alright, I won't." John trailed her to the lifts, "What else?"

"Once we know who the witnesses are, you give me three things I need to know about them and three key questions to ask. That'll help me shape my line of inquiry once I finish with whatever the prosecution inevitably uncovered."

"If Mr. Blake only got them to agree today then-"

"Then we have to assume that our… antagonists have been tracking this the whole time and they knew before we did." Anna entered the lift, looking up at the ceiling. "I never did buy the foil."

"For the hats?"

"Now that I know we've got an organization of disillusioned former operatives of the British government with a vested interest in you, I'd say I should've thought a little more carefully about my headgear."

"What'd Mr. Blake have to say about it when he whispered in your ear?"

Anna caught John's expression out of the corner of her eye. "He warned me about you. Said you've got the potential to be just as dangerous as our repellant friends."

"It's not what you're made up of, it's what you're made of." John clasped his hands in front of him as Anna twisted to face him. "Doesn't matter if it's cut from the same cloth, a tie is not a handkerchief."

"What makes you different?"

"I wasn't founded in secret." John's lips quirked toward a smile. "My mother was a very religious woman and she always loved the passages of the Bible that mentioned God never worked in darkness."

"You operate in the black, John."

"But I don't work in darkness, there's a difference." John clacked his teeth together, "It's different when you're borderline rogue assassins that someone kept on a fraying leash. Our organization is military contracted but we've got strict codes and guidelines. That kind of behavior wouldn't fly at Black Mountain."

"But for… them?"

"They were the people everyone wanted to pretend they didn't know and then worked hard to forget." John's eyes flashed a moment as they exited the lift. "They're the things that go bump in the night."

"And you?"

John leaned on the top of Anna's car. "In the words of John Hurt, 'We're the things that bump back' and I intend on roasting out every single one of those nightmares and either putting them in jail or in the ground."

"Then let's keep you out of the former and far from the latter." Anna popped the locks on her car and got in. "To the first."

"And then we worry about the second?"

"I'm sincerely hoping I never have to worry over the second." Anna put her hand on his headrest to look out the back window as she reversed. "I'm not good at picking out burial plots."


	13. Called to the Stand

(Disclaimer: this is theatrical, not realistic.)

They parked and John got out of the car. He paced its length, easing his breathing as his hands shook slightly. Bawling a fist, he twisted and ground his fingers into the palm of his other hand to focus on something so his breathing would regulate. After a moment his heart quieted and he checked his hand to ensure the twinge of a tremor there subsided.

"Wish you had a target?" John looked up as Anna joined him on his side of the car. "Something to aim at so you could breathe quietly and shoot with the right turn of the wind?"

"I never get nervous doing that." John tipped his head back, squinting. "That was always… It was always easy. Like I was made to do it."

"Then trust that I'm made to do this." Anna pointed toward the door. "That's my arena and I promise you, I won't let you down in there."

"I never had any doubts. Especially after I watched you that first day." She reached for his hand but he held it up. "I can manage."

"'Course you can." Anna winked at him, "Let's get this over with eh?"

They proceeded up the steps, Anna managing her briefcase and another bag with her robes and wig. John snorted slightly at the sight of her managing them both. "Do you always come with your accouterments in a bag like you're going to an away match for rugby?"

"I never played rugby." Anna hefted the bag, "But I did use this for my gloves when I learned how to box."

"What you do in that ring now isn't boxing."

"I picked up a bit of martial arts in the Marines and then decided to learn MMA." Anna paused, waiting for a batch of baby barristers to work between them. "It's a bit more versatile and helps me find the moves that work to my size."

"You still kick above your head." John pointed to his scalp. "You almost took a chunk out of here when we sparred."

"Wasn't all I did." She ran her tongue over her teeth and John coughed. "Don't gets distracted now. We're on in five minutes."

"I can think of better ways to spend five minutes."

"Like continuing our prep for your case?" Anna took a seat, unzipping her bag to withdraw the robe and the wig. "Because you seemed a little hazy in the car."

"I wasn't hazy."

"What would you call it?" She stood, buttoning the collar under her chin. "We're going up against Barrow and O'Brien. They're not babies. They're not even fresh. These are hard, ruthless, prosecutors for the Crown and they won't stop until you're eviscerated on that stand if they have to."

"I guess the kill order from Carlisle's convincing?"

Anna snorted, "You've no idea. When he became head of CPS I was sure someone decided to let their attack dog out."

"I heard it was about like that when you handed him the subpoena to speak today."

"You did?"

"Something about gnashing teeth that sounded rather Biblical in its turn of phrase." John laughed to himself, pushing his hands into his trouser pockets. "Does it feel like this to you every day?"

"Feel like what?"

"Like the world is yours?" John opened his arms, flipping the edges of his jacket a moment as he pivoted on his toe. "This is your arena and you own it."

"I hope not." A woman with dark hair came toward them, extending her hand to Anna. "If she does then I'm out of a job."

"The Queen's Bench would be less without you." Anna shook her hand, "I didn't expect you on the rota for this week Judge Crawley."

"It was rather last minute but a friend called in a favor." Judge Crawley lowered her voice a moment, "And you know how I can never turn down a request from our friend going to Hong Kong."

Anna cringed, "I still feel that was my fault."

"I'm sure he'll be fine there." Judge Crawley turned, eyeing John up and down. "And you're the one Anna's representing?"

"Yes ma'am." He extended his hand and she shook it firmly. "And please excuse the potential impertinence of this, but you don't sound much like a local."

"I'm not." She shrugged, "But I'd be very surprised if you didn't know that already, Captain Bates."

He blinked at her and then looked at Anna. "I'm sorry but you've got me at a distinct disadvantage."

"Robert Crawley's my husband." She smiled, "He's spoken a bit about you."

"Is law the family business then?" John managed a chuckle, "With Robert as a former police officer and Mary taking up the position. You, here… It's a bit of a-"

"Mess, is the word Robert's mother uses." Judge Crawley sighed. "But in a way, yes. Our youngest, Sybil, just finished her courses for nursing and midwifery and after Mary decided to join the Met our second daughter, Edith, made her way into crime reporting part of journalism."

"Must keep your husband up at night."

"I think he's getting an ulcer, now that you mention it." She checked her watch, "And damn if I didn't wish we had more time but I'm supposed to be supervising on your case this morning."

"You are?"

"Yes." She nodded at Anna and then John. "Good thing I'd never met you before John or this could be a conflict of interest."

As she excused herself from them, John turned to face Anna. "As if we've not gotten around that little snag before."

"It'd a bit different if it's a judge." Anna gathered her things. "Ready?"

"To have to respond to each question with 'I can neither confirm nor deny my whereabouts without authorized approval from my superiors'?" John shrugged and made a face. "Sure, who doesn't want to sound like they're deflecting every possible answer thrown their way?"

"It's what we've got until we know which friends of yours that friend of mine pulled from the shadows to help us."

John frowned, "Why can't we just say his name? We all know who we're talking about here."

Anna paused, her hand on the door, "Would you like me to tell all the fine people milling around in these marble halls what you do for a living?"

"No, but," John raised a finger, "You're my lawyer and you can't."

"I'm sure I could." Anna winked at him and pushed the door open. "I'm very good at my job and it's all about which loophole you can find."

"And use to strangle someone else with I'm guessing."

"You'd know all about strangling people, wouldn't you Mr. Bates?" John and Anna turned to face the perfectly coifed head of a man giving John the most self-satisfied smile he ever saw. "I'm sure if you failed in your piemaking skills that's how you would've done her in."

"Speculation, Thomas, doesn't do you any favors." Anna pointed John to his position in the box. "And I wouldn't waste whatever ammunition you've got now trying to rile up my client before the judge even takes the stand."

"You think I need to do much to convince Bricker that he's a dangerous creature?" Thomas laughed, "He's got 'prison' written all over him."

"It's actually Hugo Boss, Mr. Barrow." John nodded at him and took his seat, straightening his tie and waistcoat. "I'd suggest it to you but I don't think you make enough to afford it."

Before Thomas could respond a woman with a sour expression joined him. "A nice suit won't save you from what you deserve, Mr. Bates."

"I'd be curious to know what you think that is, Ms. O'Brien." Anna stared the other woman down, despite the half foot of difference in their height. "Not that you could manage to put two sticks together to make fire out of the what evidence you clearly haven't got in regards to my client."

"Put your knives back in the drawer Ms. Sharp," O'Brien made a show of shivering, "I might not take you wasting all your best zingers this early in the morning."

"For you? I've got all day for this."

"Come to order and rise for the Honorable Judge Crawley."

John stood, buttoning his coat and clasping his wrist at his waist as Anna took her place at her table. Judge Crawley entered the room, taking the stairs to her position, as the back door opened and two other people hurried into the room. John flicked his eyes in their direction and then jerked his head enough for Anna to notice. She turned as well and smiled when Moseley and Baxter took their seats with her. Before Baxter had even sat down she had a file in Anna's hands.

"Please be seated." Judge Crawley removed a pair of glasses from her pocket and slid them into position on the end of her nose while she inspected the docket. "This is a case of the Crown against Captain John Bates with a charge of murder in the first degree."

She whistled and set the docket down, removing her glasses to rest on a pile of files next to her. "That's a rather serious accusation for a man with no previous record or reports of violence."

"None recorded."

"Pardon?"

"Your Honor," O'Brien stood, her wig sitting on the back of her head as Anna adjusted hers in place. "Just because there's no official record doesn't mean it's not there or that one doesn't exist."

"I'm sure that means you've got some kind of evidence for your case?"

"We've recovered, among the possessions seized from Mrs. Vera Bates's workplace, a few diaries and photographs that go to prove a violent domestic situation involving Mr. Bates."

"Captain." Judge Crawley's voice did not raise but O'Brien's lips twerked.

"Sorry, Your Honor?"

"His proper form of address, Councilor, is 'Captain' as he still serves in our military and has yet to be discharged."

"Right," O'Brien frowned and John noted Anna taking out a pad and pencil to scribble something. It slid across the table to Baxter, who passed it to Moseley. A moment after he read whatever the message contained, he gently tore the perforated edge to tuck it away. In a second he was out of his seat and leaving the room. "We've submitted the diaries into evidence and we'd like to use them as evidence of a violent man used to outbursts in his home."

"Violence, I'm assuming, directed at his wife?"

"That's what the diaries seem to tell us is the story."

Judge Crawley frowned, "Seem to tell you?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Well," Judge Crawley sat back, "Can you give me an example specifically naming Captain Bates as the instigator of the violence you claim is recorded so thoroughly in those diaries? Or, perhaps, match the photographs with the same instances?"

"Your Honor…" O'Brien paused, snapping a look at Thomas who quickly pulled out the diaries and rifled through them and the photographs that then spilled over the table. John caught sight of one and rolled his eyes before sitting back in his chair. "We've not matched the photographs to specific dates but-"

"I do hope, Ms. O'Brien, you were not going to play on my gender as a woman to be automatically sympathetic to the accusations of a woman against a man in terms of something as serious as domestic abuse?"

"Your Honor-"

"Captain Bates, would you stand?" John was up in a moment, snapping just shy of 'attention' at her cue. "Could you please tell me what I might find in a deeper investigation of those diaries and photographs, to your knowledge?"

"I wouldn't know, Your Honor, I didn't know my wife had a diary."

"But the photographs?" She pointed to them, "Surely you're aware of your wife keeping a stash of incriminating photographs of the injuries you're accused of giving her, yes?"

"Your Honor, I've never raised a hand to a woman in my life that wasn't for sparring or demonstrations."

"I see." Judge Crawley flicked her eyes toward the still floundering Thomas. "And tell me, Captain, in your experience with men in your units, what kind of man beats his wife?"

"Usually the weak ones. The ones with self-image issues."

"Oh?" Judge Crawley opened her hands to him, "Please elaborate for us."

"Ma'am," John swallowed, "Strong men are the kinds who grew up in one of two homes. Either they were raised by loving fathers that loved their mothers or they protected younger siblings or their mothers from horrible fathers. Strong men protect women, they see them as a duty and an honor to guard."

"Because women are helpless?"

"No ma'am." He glanced toward Anna, "Because weak men prey on women."

"For what purpose, in your experience?"

"To prove themselves." John shook his head, "A strong man doesn't need to prove he's strong by beating up on someone else."

"Then tell us what these photographs are of, Captain."

"My wife…" John cleared his throat, "My wife was unfaithful. Those photographs were ones she took of her… proclivities with one of her sexual partners. It's how I filed for divorce."

"Because that's not your bedroom?"

"I don't own sex toys, Your Honor."

Judge Crawley snorted, "And the diaries?"

"As I said, I didn't know my wife kept one."

"Thank you, Captain, that'll be all for now." John took his seat again as Judge Crawley directed her next comments at O'Brien. "Did you think I wouldn't have done my own research on this case, Councilor?"

"Your Honor?"

"I may've been handed this case a bit last minute," She replaced her glasses and held up a file. "But I've studied rather thoroughly and I know that the evidence you want to use against Captain Bates, in this instance, was pulled in your inquest from his divorce file. The evidence he used of adultery and domestic abuse against him, not the other way around."

Judge Crawley looked down her nose at O'Brien, "Any other fastballs you think you can throw at me this morning, Councilor?"

John wished he could have cheered.

But the trial grew a bit more grim when Thomas had a chance to present his evidence. John could not look at the pictures of his wife with her skin mottled blue from the poisoned pie and he knew it gave Thomas the bit of satisfaction he needed to give the last of his arguments in that regard with a bit more vigor. Vigor that Anna let wash off her like water off a duck's back as she stood.

"I'm sure my esteemed colleague would take the momentary discomfiture of my client as evidence that he can't face the image of his deceased wife because of guilt." She gave Thomas a condescending smile before making a clicking sound with her teeth. "But based on my primitive knowledge of pie making, that would require Captain Bates to be in the house within a period of twenty-four hours. Correct?"

Anna waved off Thomas's attempt to respond. "Don't bother answering. It was rhetorical to begin with. What's more, the autopsy report shows that the pie was in her system for a period of less than an hour. That would require, between baking and consumption to death, no more than two hours. Something Captain Bates could not, even with herculean effort, accomplish."

"Really?"

"Really."

"According to police statements, Mr. Bates was not able to provide a solid alibi for his whereabouts during that period." Thomas scoffed, "Feels rather weak to me. And since no alibi's materialized since it's not looking too good for him."

"I'm sure you understand the _Captain_ Bates is under obligation to the oath he swore this country and that, on occasion, takes precedence over life and limb." Anna turned to the doors and nodded. "Fortunately I'll be calling someone to the stand to help with that elusive alibi."

"Who?"

"Albert Pelham, sixth Marquess of Hexam."

John tried to swivel in his constricting chair as Moseley led two men into the room. One was Bertie, swallowing a bit nervously and betraying himself with the ring of sweat already beading at his collar. The other was a lanky man with hair almost as perfect as Thomas's but with a far more relaxed mood. He took his seat behind the table where Moseley sat and Bertie took the stand.

"Mr. Pelham… Or should I use your proper title for this?" Anna paused as Bertie swallowed a final time, pushing his Adam's apple to his collar, and nodded with a squaring of his shoulders.

"I'm here on official business so it's best we use my title I think."

"Perfect." Anna straightened, "Lord Hexam, could you tell us where Captain Bates was on the night in question?"

"Unfortunately I can't give details of our operations out without permission from our supervising officers and an official release."

"Then I can safely assume the details for whatever Captain Bates was doing that night are classified?"

"Yes, they are."

"But you can confirm that Captain Bates was not at home the night of Mrs. Bates's death?"

"I can." Bertie met John's eyes, a twinge of guilt there. "I was with him when he received the news."

"What did you know about their marriage?"

"I know John… Sorry," He frowned, "Do I call him Captain Bates as well or can I call him John?"

"Whatever is most comfortable for you, Lord Hexam."

"John and I had discussed his legal situation before. He'd asked my advice on getting a good divorce lawyer and a few other protections for his assets should his wife try to take them from him."

"What did you advise?"

"That he just let her take it all." Bertie shook his head. "Whatever could get that harpy off his back and away from him."

"Why'd you say it like that?"

"That woman was poison." He paused, "I'm sorry, that might be in poor taste… given the circumstances."

"I'll allow it." Judge Crawley leaned over her seat toward Bertie. "What happened between the two of them?"

"Nothing good."

"Can you elaborate?"

"From what I could tell it was a marriage made in a passionate moment and not very well thought out that both of them regretted very shortly afterward." Bertie's cringe became a shudder, "She was a horrible woman with bad manners and treated John even worse. I've seen the scars she gave him, much as he'd try to hide them during sparring sessions or other trainings."

"Then you'd say there was domestic abuse?"

"On him, not from him." Bertie shuddered, "John's not a man to hurt a woman. He wouldn't know how. He's far too chivalrous."

"Then you don't think he killed his wife?"

"I know he didn't kill his wife. I was with him when she died."

Anna shrugged, "What about prep work?"

Bertie shifted, "Given the… constraints of my employment, I can't say exactly how I know this but I can tell you that the poison used on Mrs. Bates was not the kind that would've kept if chilled in a freezer. Whatever killed Mrs. Bates killed her within hours and was administered into that pie within hours."

"And Captain Bates couldn't have done that?"

"I can tell you he was out of the country for an entire week prior to the event of Mrs. Bates's death and returned two days later."

"Thank you Lord Hexam, that's all from me." Anna sat down but Thomas was up in a moment.

"What about secret passports?"

"Sorry?"

"I'm sure you're aware that, in the seizure and arrest of Mr. Bates, we found a number of passports. Any of which could've been used to sneak back into the country without giving away his real passport."

"All of those passports are filed with the British Government and used with permission and oversight." Bertie shook his head, "Even if he'd used one it would've flagged in our system."

"Quite a system you've got."

"We've got quite the team."

"What about a black market passport?"

Bertie shook his head again. "They're not as good as ours and, as I mentioned, I was with John when he received the news."

"But not the whole week beforehand?"

"None of us were left unsupervised long enough for anyone to sneak off, board a plane, fly here, commit murder by way of baking poison into the pastry of a pie, and then sneak back." Bertie leaned back in his chair. "If John had snuck away we would've noticed immediately."

"Tight knit group are you?"

"We run a very careful operation, Mr. Barrow." Thomas blinked. "Tight enough to know exactly who we're dealing with and who our enemies are. We never come unprepared."

"I think, Lord Hexam, you've entertained us enough today and you're free to go." Judge Crawley waved him from the stand and addressed Anna. "Anyone else you want to call to the stand?"

"Henry Talbot, present in the gallery."

"Please have him come forward."

The tall man stretched himself, buttoned his suit, and walked the short distance to the witness stand. He winked at John before placing his hand on the Bible. "I swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth… so help me God. I believe that's what I've heard them say on television before."

"That's not exactly how the phrasing goes, Mr. Talbot." Judge Crawley gave him the side-eye and Talbot shrugged.

"My apologies, it's my first time up here."

"And how does it feel to be here, Mr. Talbot?"

"Rather ridiculous, if you're asking Your Honor." Talbot motioned his open hand toward John. "That man's served with me for ten years. He wouldn't do anything remotely like this."

"You're sure of that?" O'Brien stood. "You're sure he didn't decide his method would be faster than the legal route?"

"John's not stupid. He'd be the first suspect in the case of his wife's death and any idiot knows you never put yourself in the position to be that." Talbot shuffled in his seat. "And baking's not really his style."

"How'd you figure?"

"I don't know if you've ever had an MRE with that man but he managed to burn one of those so badly he had to rip it apart with his teeth." Talbot shook his head, "The idea of him mastering a pie, much more folding poison into it before baking is ludicrous."

"But not for you."

"I've watched my share of _The Great British Baking Show_."

"This isn't a joke Mr. Talbot."

"Everything about these accusations and this case say otherwise to me, Ms. O'Brien." Talbot scoffed, "Accusing a decorated soldier and loyal man is absurd at best and at worst insulting to the flag he wears on his uniform."

"Don't parade his patriotism around this courtroom."

"It's a place of justice, isn't it?" Talbot pointed at O'Brien. "You're representing the Crown he serves and you'd demean him like this? With your shoddy evidence and even shoddier police work?"

"Permission to treat the witness as hostile, Your Honor." O'Brien gritted her teeth but Talbot tossed his hands up.

"I've got nothing more to say as it is."

"I'd advise you not to antagonize the prosecutors, Mr. Talbot, or I'll have to find you in contempt of court."

Talbot nodded and turned to O'Brien. "Anything else?"

"Were you with Mr. Bates when he heard the news?"

"I was with _Captain_ Bates when he found himself a widower."

"What was his reaction?"

Talbot shuffled in his chair, "Shock first. We see it on the kinds of people we meet in our line of work so I treated it as such. After a minute he recovered but I think part of his brain was still misfiring, like he couldn't wrap his mind around it."

"But you could wrap your mind around it?"

"She wasn't my wife."

"Were you upset?"

"No." Talbot snorted, "I know you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead but good riddance to bad rubbish. I hope she shook hands with the Devil in Hell when she got there, speaking for myself."

O'Brien blinked and then cleared her throat. "No further questions."

"Ms. Smith?"

"None from me, Your Honor."

"Alright then." Judge Crawley turned to Talbot. "You're free to go Mr. Talbot and I think that draws today's session to a close. Please reconvene here in three days at the same time to continue proceedings. Court adjourned."

John stood up, nodding at the man guarding his booth and hurried out to shake Bertie and Talbot's hands. "You both came through remarkably well."

"We had a…" Talbot snuck a look back toward Anna, speaking quickly with Baxter and Moseley. "Rather interesting encounter with a friend of your lawyer's and I think he took a bit of a hit for us."

"He's that kind of man." John reached into Bertie's pocket for a pen and wrote down a name on Talbot's hand. "Look out for him."

Bertie leaned over Talbot's hand to investigate the name there. "I think I've heard of him. At least at a briefing or something."

"He's getting reassigned to Hong Kong because he stuck his neck out for me and I'd like to get us keeping our ears to the ground for him."

"I can understand the 'thank you' but he kind of threw us in it if any of what your girlfriend's office told us is true." John blinked at Talbot, who only waved him off. "You didn't think we'd just leave her office untapped did you? While you were still on trial for murder?"

"I thought you'd be a bit more conscientious about the fact there's privacy involved in all of this."

"We didn't listen to any of the good bits." Bertie reddened slightly but Talbot only snorted a laugh.

"Big hands?"

"Shut up."

"Alright," Talbot raised his hands in surrender. "But we're still keeping our ears to the ground about that Evergreen thing."

"Good." John shook Moseley and Baxter's hands as they approached the gathering. "Thank you both for coming."

"You'll like them even better when I tell you what they found on that flashdrive." Anna patted her bag. "But I should get you back and I need to change."

"No celebrations?" Talbot eyed the group. "Lively lot aren't you?"

"We're not celebrating until Captain Bates is free and clear, Mr. Talbot." Anna shook his hand, "And when that happens I'll expect you to do a thorough de-bugging of my offices and residence."

Talbot winked at her, "My pleasure."

"Captain," Anna jerked her head toward the door. "We'd best make tracks."

John shook everyone's hands again in another round and hurried to follow Anna. "Although, a bit of celebration wouldn't be misplaced."

"How's that?" Anna peeked into a room and motioned John to follow her.

"Well," John pivoted to face her and then frowned when she locked the door. "What… What's going-"

"Just because I didn't want to celebrate with them doesn't mean I don't want to celebrate with you." Anna let her wig and robe fall into a heap on top of her bag before leaning back against the wall. "Don't tell me you weren't think about it the whole time I was up there."

John pressed against her, grinning when she moaned at the weight of him against her. "You tell me." He dipped his lips toward her ear, letting the tip of his tongue trace the whorl there as his hands circled her wrists and raised them above her head to hold her in place. "Was I thinking about it?"

"About as much as me." She rubbed against him and John sacrificed a hand to slip under her skirt and run a finger along the damp line of her knickers. "Maybe I was thinking about it a bit more."

"What did you think Anna?"

"Of how much I wanted to force you onto the table after you told Thomas he couldn't afford that suit and make him watch me ride you while you wore it." Anna ground into the touch of his fingers against her and sighed when he slipped one under the elastic of her knickers to run along her. "Don't tease. We've not got the time for that."

"We're alone." John kissed up the side of her neck, his other hand sliding from her wrists to her breasts to manipulate them through her blouse, remembering kissing them just hours ago. Was it really just this morning?

"But for how long if you really get me going?" Anna muttered against him, twisting her head to nip at his ear and then pull the lobe between her teeth. "I can be loud… if you remember."

"I remember." John worked her knickers to the side to allow his fingers better access. "But that doesn't bother me."

"It might bother any passersby."

"Let them be jealous." John sank to his knees, "They're all missing out."

"Holy shit." Anna moaned and dug her fingers into John's hair as he started using his tongue.

Each run along her brought a new sound as he varied his strokes and the direction. The flat of his tongue strangled her whimpers in her throat while the pointed plays over her clit gave him a keening growl from her chest. And when she came with a barely contained groan that had her sagging into his waiting arms, John could not push his suit out of the way fast enough.

He entered her in an instant, gritting his teeth against the tight cling of her fluttering walls. His fingers continued working over her clit and even used the material of her trapped knickers to their advantage in sparking the delicate nerves to higher heights. Each motion had the shuffling and thumping against the wall until Anna brought both of her legs to wrap around his waist. Clothes caught in their way but they came in a rush against the wall.

"Best use of the adrenaline rush." Anna sighed, her head going back against the wall and John took no time in laying kisses over the area. "I feel like a teenager again doing this."

"I couldn't have managed this as a teenager." John slowly slipped out of her and backed up a bit, leaning on the desk in the empty room. "I definitely couldn't suggest a round two."

Anna quirked an eyebrow and gave a slow smile. Her skirt still hung at her waist, her blouse bore more wrinkles now, and her hair told all the signs of someone thoroughly ravished. "You want a round two?"

"I believe you wanted to take me on a table in this suit." John tapped the desk under him. "It feels sturdy enough to hold my weight."

"And mine?"

"You're naught but a feather." John slid onto the desk and laid back to support himself on his elbows. "Still want it?"

"More than you know." Anna stalked toward him, crawling up onto the desk as John slid himself into a more comfortable position. "But I think I might want something else first."

Before John could even ask her what it was, her mouth closed over him and the back of his head cracked against the edge of the desk. He saw stars but he could hardly tell if those were stars from his potential injury or from the suction of Anna's mouth on him bringing all of his interest to the fore. Even digging his fingers into the edges of the desk did nothing to help him control his reaction and left only grooves in the palms of his hands.

But Anna pulled back before he could lose the chance to fulfill her fantasy. She ran her tongue over him, her fingers working carefully over his sack before tempting him with kisses there that then trailed up to his tip. The sneak of her tongue into the slit there had his hips jerking so hard they rocked the desk. And with one wickedly satisfied grin, she sank down on him.

John rose up, one hand grabbing her hip so hard he knew it might bruise in the pattern of his fingers while the other took her chin to bring their mouths together. Anna's hands matched his with one snaking between them to bring herself as close to the edge he rode as she could and, occasionally, running over him as well. Her other hand tangled in his hair and allowed her to run her tongue deeper into his mouth so they could taste one another.

He sucked hard at the combine taste of them from her exploits and worked harder to get himself deeper inside of her. She ground her hips against his, her knees tightening against his hips to give them the leverage they needed. Under the circumstances it did not take long for the two of them to come gasping together.

John's forehead rested against hers, trading gentle kisses between the breaths they hauled into their starved lungs. He chuckled against her lips and she pulled back to raise an eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry we couldn't do this in front of Thomas like you wanted."

"He wouldn't appreciate it." Anna let her forearms drop onto John's shoulders. "He's… He doesn't play on that team."

"Even so…"

"Even so we would've made a bit of a scene in that courtroom." Anna played her fingers in his hair as if trying to calm whatever ruffles she put there. "You were magnificent in there by the way."

"As were you."

"Did you…" Anna bit her lip, "Did you protect your mother, as a child?"

John nodded, "I did."

"I wish I'd protected mine better." Anna slid back, finding her purse and digging around in it to find something to clean themselves with. "But all I could do was run away the moment I had the chance."

"It's not our responsibility to protect our parents." John took the offered tissue and caught her wrist to press a kiss there. "And I'm a lot bigger than you. A lot bigger than my mother."

"As big as your father?"

"As big as my uncle." John corrected, "My father was a good man. He never laid a finger on my mother."

"Neither did mine." Anna sighed, "He died too early and left her to marry a man who… Let's just say the world's better off without him now."

"You're work?"

"Genetics. Weak heart." Anna's lips twitched slightly. "I guess you really can get scared to death."

"I bet you frightened him enough." John situated himself. "But all this should've come out at a different time."

"As in?"

"On a date that's not shags we snuck in back rooms or basements or cars." John helped her store her robe and wig in the bag before picking them up for her. "The kind of date that includes a nice dinner, a stroll, and maybe even a bit more wine than advisable."

"The kind of date you could take me on when we get you acquitted?"

"Exactly."

"Then consider me wholly dedicated to my task." Anna unlocked the door, "I could use a free dinner."

John grinned and followed her out of the room.


	14. Entered into Evidence

Anna closed her eyes and leaned back against the pulsing jets beating a soothing tattoo against her back. She barely opened her eyes as the door to the bathroom opened and John entered. The smile on her face spread as her eyes closed again and she leaned back against the tub edge.

"Money's on the dresser."

"I already took what was owed me." His voice had her opening her eyes again to watch as he contorted his face in the mirror. "I need to get back to mine."

"Probably best." Anna raised a hand to point at the pajama trousers hanging on his hips. "I don't remember you having those last night."

"I didn't need them last night."

"Do you really need them now?"

John paused, turning to look at her as Anna's grin only widened. "Are you suggesting, Ms. Smith, that you want me to prance around your flat naked?"

"I didn't say anything about prancing but I guess that's a personal choice." Anna leaned forward, reaching for him in the space between the tub and the large wall mirror that reflected the turbulent water of the Jacuzzi bath behind her. "Care to join me?"

"I would've thought I wore you out last night with our particular kind of gymnastics." John stayed just out of her reach, leaning back on the counter. "Not that it's a sport they'll put on television."

"They do put it on television." Anna shrugged up a shoulder, settling back in the water. "They just make you pay for it and you'd be embarrassed if your parents knew you rented it as a movie."

John laughed and turned back to the mirror, catching Anna's eyes in it. "If I get in there then we might be late."

"I doubt it. It's not even seven and court doesn't start until one." Anna closed her eyes, working to keep her face passive. "But it's up to you."

She forced her eyes to stay closed as the stretch of an elastic band pulled before the soft thump of material hitting the floor rang in her ears. Anna cracked an eyelid and then let herself sigh loudly at the sight of John standing before her, as naked as she was. "Is this better, Ms. Smith?"

"Much." She raised a hand to invite him toward her. "The offer still stands."

"I'm debating just standing here and seeing how desperate it'll make you." One of John's hands went to the counter behind him, holding himself against the surface while the other hand dropped to run over his rising erection. "You never know the fun we could have teasing each other like this."

"That's best done in a public place where neither one of you can do anything about it." Anna rose out of the tub, sitting back on the edge to spread her legs. "But I'm willing to give it a go."

Reaching to put her hand between her legs, John was in the tub in a flash and his lips pressed to hers. Anna's back hit the wall under the force of his kiss but her arms looped around his shoulders to keep herself steady as his tongue danced around the interior of her mouth. The momentary tug of war between them ended when Anna tried to press John back into the water.

He pulled away but barely gave Anna time to give him a confused expression. The plant of his feet in the tub proved enough to turn them around, pulling her ass off the chill edge of the tub, and put John with his back in her former position. But again, he did not even give Anna time to feign offense when he twisted her legs so she landed in his lap with her back to his chest.

Kisses immediately dotted over her shoulders and neck, the bubbles larger now as one of John's hands manipulated the controls. Anna eased back, trying to relax under the pummel of the bubbles but John spread his legs slightly and she fit between them tightly enough that John's arousal fit against the small of her back. One of his arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and held her at his mercy while his lips and tongue continued their caress of her skin.

Moving her hands over his, Anna guided one to her breasts and set the tempo he dutifully followed so her now free hand could grasp and dig into his thigh. Her other hand held his to her abdomen for a moment, too busy gasping and whimpering at the care and attention he showed her breasts, but slowly she guided him between her legs. Their fingers intertwined and stroked along her folds at the pace John's hand continued to adore her breasts.

"Do you touch yourself often Anna?" His voice in her ear, vibrating from his chest through her back, pulled Anna's fingers short for a moment. "Before?"

"Before what?" Anna arched her back, unintentionally rubbing the crease of her ass against John so he hissed in her ear while their fingers delved into her folds.

"Before you found me?"

"Sex really wasn't on my mind much before you." Anna tried but John's teeth nipped on her shoulder and Anna undulated her hips against him to the pulse of his erection at her back.

"Liar."

"One night stands, or even three-day stands, don't count."

"No boyfriends?"

"Why?" Anna turned her head, biting at her lip when two of his fingers entered her and his thumb pressed at her clit. "Jealous?"

"How could I be jealous?" John took her earlobe between his teeth. "You weren't mine then."

"Am I now?" Anna paused and then shivered as John dragged his teeth down to press a kiss where her jaw met her neck.

"Yes." He left his hold at her breast a moment to tilt her face in line with his, his fingers inside her stilling as if to keep them on pause. "And I'm yours."

"Then no, I didn't touch myself before." Anna leaned toward him, her lips so close to his she thought she could feel the shiver that passed between them. "But when I did, I thought of you."

"Me too."

Their lips met and John's hands went back to their tasks. Anna writhed in his hold, forcing herself to focus her motions on bringing John to the brink of insanity with her, but their confessions almost immunized him against her. So while Anna fell over the edge with a moan into John's mouth, he remained almost unaffected by her persistent, if unstylish, bodily manuevers.

Almost.

Anna finally broke the kiss, breathing deeply, and reached a hand to cup his jaw while the other maneuvered between their bodies, albeit at an awkward angle, to wrap around him. John's hips jerked into her, sending his fingers over her fizzling nerves, and Anna about cracked her jaw trying to focus through the haze of pleasure. When she could force her eyes open, John's hands were on her hips and his lips caressed her cheek.

"Trust me?"

All she had to do was nod. His hands glided to her thighs and raised her up enough so his erection slid down the line of her ass and centered where she waited for him. Trying not to move, Anna almost shrieked when he brought their hips together to sheath himself inside her.

They stayed still, basking in the rippling of their bodies adjusting, and Anna almost turned her head to face John. He splashed water from the surface as he hurried a hand to turn her face to the mirror instead. With the bubbles beating at her body and John holding her close while shunting his hips against her so he shifted inside her, Anna could hardly bear to watch them move together.

Could not bear to see John's eyes over her shoulder as he retraced the paths of his kisses before bringing his fingers back to their earlier occupations. Could not bear the grip of his fingers on her hip or breast or clit while he rutted into her. Could not bear to watch her body move without her command as it responded to the biddings of his. Could not bear when he brought her over the edge again and followed swiftly after.

She leaned against him, the program for the bubbles shutting off to leave them in calming water while their bodies slowly stopped stuttering together. Tilting her head slightly, Anna kissed under his chin before turning his face so she could look at him. Her finger traced his cheek before she could find words.

"Did you really think about me?"

"Of course." John shifted, sliding free of her, and moved to grab a towel before exiting the tub. "How could I think of anyone else when there was a woman as brave as you out there?"

"So you thought about a woman who's name you didn't know whenever you needed to jack off?"

John cringed, "You say it that way and it sounds dirty."

"I'm flattered." Anna reached down to pull the plug on the tub. "And I couldn't judge if I wanted to because, as I said, I thought about you too."

"You thought about a man who's name you didn't know?"

"I knew your name." Anna climbed out of the tub, drying herself off as John leaned back against the counter. "It was one of the first things I went to find out after you saved my life."

"And then you touched yourself thinking about me?"

Anna nodded, sliding up onto the counter next to him so John had to turn and face her while also runching up the towel under her. "I thought a lot about you, actually. More than I should've."

"Like what?" John's hands rested on her thighs and Anna noted the barest hint of a twitch from under the towel around his waist. "What could you possibly think about me?"

"I thought about your shoulders," Anna's finger traced the line there, dipping to follow the guide of his collarbone. "How they looked when you came in wearing your tactical gear. You stood like you were wearing a normal suit jacket. So straight and tall, like nothing could touch you."

His hands skated toward her hips, his thumbs rubbing along the line of bone there. "Just my shoulders then?"

"I did notice the size of your hands." Anna risked a smile but squealed as John attacked her neck with kisses. "But how could I not? They were up when you tried to calm the man down, tried to get me free, and I had to stare at something."

"And why," John kissed her lips briefly, smiling with her, "Ms. Smith, did you have to stare at my hands?"

Anna blinked at him, the humor fading from her voice. "Because if I looked in your eyes I would've been lost. I would've done whatever you said for however long you needed it. I wouldn't have been able to do anything else."

"I guess you know how I feel then." John's lips closed in on hers, "Because I'd think about your eyes. I'd think about the way your hair fell, its color, it's length. I'd think about how small you felt when I helped guide you out of there and I'd wonder if I'd ever held anything that delicate and special. If I ever could again."

Anna gasped out as John's fingers swept over her folds again, drawing over the damp from the tub and the result of her earlier two orgasms and his climax. "I knew I wouldn't find it with my wife. She's not what you'd ever call delicate and I'd wonder if I even deserved something so precious."

"You do." Anna huffed out, one of her hands holding to the back of John's neck while the other reached behind her to grab at the edge of the counter. "You deserve all the good things life could give you."

"I don't deserve you, Anna." He bent his head, tugging the wrapped towel loose with his teeth to expose her to him. "I could live a hundred lifetimes and never deserve you the way you are."

"I'm not… I'm not that special." Anna tried to argue as her hips rolled and gyrated against his fingers, pressing back against the palm he rubbed hard on her clit. "I'm not any more than-"

"You are to me." John insisted, kissing over her neck while his fingers went deeper. "You're the best thing that could ever happen to me and I don't want to muck it all up."

"You won't." Anna tightened her grip in the skin of his shoulder as the peak rose within her. "You couldn't."

"Good." John added a third finger and crooked them inside her. "Because I'm about to do this all over again."

She cried out as he helped her come, urging the orgasm further with continued attentions to her clit while opening her towel enough to allow his mouth to latch onto her breasts. The bite of the countertop into her ass and thighs almost distracted Anna but the slow glide of John's fingers as they withdrew brought her back. And she barely had time to comprehend any of it when John dragged her over her towel to the edge of the counter to put his mouth where his fingers had been.

The rebounding echo of her shriek almost rang shrilly in Anna's ears but John did not seem to mind. His tongue darted out, slipping between her folds as if to catch any of the runoff from his work just moments before, and the flat of it stroking along her sensitive nerves allowed Anna to feel every taste bud. She almost knocked her head against the mirror but stopped the potential tragedy by her fingers latching in a death grip on the ledge of the counter. The bite into her palms from the definition of the granite was nothing compared to John's pointed tongue now batting at her clit or delving in to taste more of her.

When her body could take no more, wrapped and spiraled higher by John's hands at her breasts or kneading into the exposed skin of her ass, Anna toppled over. Her body shook and shivered, racked with pleasure on pleasure as her mind fired blank synaptic messages in an attempt to understand the waves of ecstasy now running through her body. Even her fingers and toes vibrated with energy that could light of South London if she plugged herself into an outlet.

But eventually she could breathe more deeply, actually filling her lungs so dots of black and red did not take over the corners of her vision, and Anna risked a hand from its hold to tug lightly on John's hair. His tongue, busy cleaning up the results of their mess on her legs and between them, left a final stripe along the line of her as he rose to answer the insistence of her hand. Their lips met in a promise of frenzy as Anna's legs folded themselves around John's hips to bring him sliding easily into her with no more adjustment than his hands gripping a at her ass.

Anna sighed at the weight of him inside her, holding there despite the minute shudders going through him. Her palm petted over his hair, soothing him with small sounds in the shell of his ear as she broke their kiss, and rocked her hips toward his. The motion sent him even deeper and she gave a lazy smile against his shoulder as he groaned into hers.

"You can move now." Was all she had to say before the leash snapped and the frenetic energy so contained when he teased her unleashed.

The bump of the counter against the backs of her thighs and her ass was nothing. A momentary worry that John might grip down to her bones vanished when he found the end of her with a tilt of her hips. And the thought that they might want to think about a location not covered in glass, glaze, or rock was nothing but a wisp of smoke when John came inside her.

Her fingers shook slightly as they ran down from his hair. Droplets on his skin and hers now mingled the remains of their bath with the sweat from their morning aerobic workout. Anna kissed a few of them away, tracking from his ear to his mouth, and then took his lips as slowly as they had all morning.

"Aren't you glad you finally decided those sleep trousers were ridiculous?"

John laughed, kissing her hard before pulling away to find a flannel to rub over the two of them. "I never said they were ridiculous."

"This would've been harder with them on." Anna took the towel to herself before working it furiously into her hair. "And not nearly so pleasurable."

"True." John paused, "I think we keep jumping ahead of ourselves in all this."

Anna paused, knotting her hair into a series of plaits. "How'd you mean?"

"We jumped from being client-lawyer to bedmates to both and now…" John sighed, "What I said, at the courthouse, is as true now as it was then."

"About the date?"

John nodded, "And the other things. I think we've shared so much that we-"

"We think we know one another better than we do?" Anna leaned against the counter, her hands tucking the towel back in place. "We've convinced ourselves there's something deeper here when there might not be?"

John paused before giving another nod. "It's possible."

Anna shrugged, going back to her hair and focusing on it in the mirror for a moment. "Sex does tend to stir deep emotions that, under certain circumstances, might be confused for genuine emotional development."

"Now you sound like a lawyer who's called a professional witness." John bent for his pajama bottoms, tugging them up his legs. "But that's about it."

Anna finished her hair, letting it settle as she faced John. "I don't disagree that we've just about buggered the order of things in all this."

"We've definitely done that." John snorted but Anna continued.

"But I also don't believe what we've shared so far is so shallow that it'd collapse under the pressure if we weren't constantly trying out the horizontal mambo in as many different ways as possible."

"I always preferred the reference to the tango." John shook his head when Anna scowled. "Sorry, it's… It was only kind of a joke."

"John," Anna covered his hand on the counter between them. "What you told me, about your uncle, that's not nothing. And I don't think you'd tell just anyone you took for a quick shag."

"I wouldn't." John held her hand in his. "I'm not a pillow talker."

"Then we'll consider this progress." Anna let a small smile come out. "And the fact you used to rub a few out while thinking about me-"

"That was shared in confidence."

"So was my masturbation history." Anna put her other hand on his face, her thumb stroking the line of his cheek. "We've shared more than just sheets, John. We've been… connected, for lack of a more sufficiently large word, since you saved me at George's school. And every moment since."

John turned his head, kissing her palm, and she let it slide down his face. "We're two peas in a pod, you and I."

"Yes we are." Anna sighed, "With our histories of violence, our defenseless mothers, and this case we're practically the same person now. Fused together by circumstance and desperation."

"Desire, not desperation." John caught her falling hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. "I wasn't at a loss for possible lawyers you know."

"I know." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek. "I'm glad you chose me."

"Me too."

"For more than just this." Anna took a breath, "I'm glad you trusted me with the facts about your mother's case."

"You told me about your step-father, and that's not a small thing."

"No, it's not." Anna kissed the back of his hand to withdraw her fingers. "But we'd best get on. We've got to stop by yours and get to the courthouse."

"I thought you said we had loads of time."

"We do but I like to be early." Anna shrugged a shoulder, meeting John's suspicious scowl with a wink. "And we might find something to distract ourselves over at yours, you never know."

"I've a feeling you already know."

"Not telling." Anna let the bathroom to gather her clothes.

They took Anna's car back to John's and parked it outside before John put a hand on her arm. Anna frowned and leaned around him to groan at the sight of the man standing at the base of the steps. "For shitssake."

"How'd he know about this place?"

Anna shook her head, "I don't know but I intend to get him away from it. This is a horrible breach of conduct."

"Maybe he found out you want to call him to the stand today." John suggested, pushing his way from the car. "Mr. Carlisle, what a surprise."

"I was hoping so." Carlisle pointed at the house, "I knocked but you didn't answer so my next engagement was going to be Ms. Smith's office."

"You wouldn't have been allowed in after your despicable offer from last time." Anna folded her arms over her chest and sucked the inside of her cheek a moment. "Although I hope you appreciated how we used the bug you left in my office. We tried very hard to make it worth your while."

Carlisle scowled, "If you're accusing me of impropriety then-"

"You being here, right now, is inappropriate." Anna straightened. "You need to leave, now, and I won't bring this up when we see one another in court today."

"I'm here about another deal for Mr. Bates."

" _Captain_ Bates isn't taking any deals."

"This one gets his record expunged and him cleared on all charges."

Anna bit hard on her jaw to stop herself reacting. "Would it now?"

"That's right." Carlisle sauntered toward her. "He'd walk out of that room a free man. Free from suspicion, interest, and further interrogation. This whole thing would just vanish."

"Why offer this to me now instead of a few days ago when you were crowing about how I'd lose this case?" Anna took a moment and then snapped her fingers to interrupt Carlisle's attempt at response. "I know, because you've either lost a crucial bit of evidence or you realized we've got something. It has to be the second because you've not got enough of the first."

Carlisle scoffed, "My investigators-"

"Uncovered a salacious sex journal and post-BDSM photographs." Anna shook her head, "Not impressive, on your side."

"And you think your arguments are better?"

"I know they are because I'm not the one crawling to you with a potential deal at," Anna checked her phone, "Nine in the morning. And not even at my office or through all, official, channels."

She narrowed her eyes, "What are you trying to keep hidden Mr. Carlisle?"

"Do you want the deal or not?" He pressed, fingers trembling as they adjusted his jacket. "It's only on offer for as long as I'm standing here."

Anna flicked her gaze to John, who shook his head, and then back to Carlisle. "My client and I'll decline at this time. We've every confidence we'll get our justice in court. So you can take this deal when you took the last one. I'd imagine, right about now, your ass'll be a bit cramped."

"Final word?"

"What else could I possibly have to say?" Anna nodded to John, "We'll see you this afternoon Mr. Carlisle."

They went into the house, watching Carlisle as he stood there a moment longer before leaving. When he left, back straight and chest high in a forced posture, Anna shook her head. "The nerve of that man."

"How'd he find out about this place?" John turned on his heel, immediately sweeping the premises. "It couldn't have been from any of my people."

"He might've just had us followed." Anna took a seat on the cot John barely used now. "I've not been running SDRs for any of this and given what we already suspect about his long reach regarding terrorist organizations, I'd hazard he's got himself friends in the organized crime business as well."

"Any of them hate you?' John suggested, typing something into the pad set into the wall before going into the small bathroom.

"I didn't deal much with organized crime so I can't say many of them had any interest in me at all." Anna flexed her jaw, "Except for those I'd see at the office or in the courthouse leering at me but that's part and parcel of being a woman."

"Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately." Anna agreed, pushing herself to stand and follow him into the bathroom. "What about you? Any enemies on that side of the law?"

"None in this country." John washed over his face with a steaming towel before taking his razor in his hand. "I'll probably want to take another shower. Actually change my clothes."

"Don't want to show up in yesterday's kit and hope no one notices?" Anna grinned, sitting on the edge of John's tub and watching him as he lathered his face with foam. "I have to say, I don't think I'd mind you with a shadow."

"I don't want to look like I live under a bridge when I go to court today." John grinned at her through the mirror. "And I tend to look like I sought the cure in the hair of the dog when I don't shave."

"Not if you had a beard." Anna suggested, her hands on her knees before pulling her tongue over her lips. "You'd look good with a beard I think."

"Maybe one day you'll find out." John paused, knocking the razor against the side of the sink when he noticed Anna's hands moving up her legs through the mirror. "What are you up to?"

"Who said I'm up to anything?" Anna sucked the insides of her cheeks to stop herself smiling as her skirt bunched at her waist and she dragged a finger over her thong. "You wondered earlier if I ever touch myself."

John's swallow sent his Adam's apple bobbing and the hand holding his razor shaking slightly. "You shouldn't distract a man when he's holding a razor."

"Maybe not." Anna continued her motions, exaggerating her motions for the benefit of watching John's pupils dilate in the mirror. "Be careful with that."

The force of will John executed as he continued to shave amazed Anna. The fingers of her left hand tugged her thong to the side and her feet dug into the tile to hold herself in place as she sacrificed the potential for a secure hold on the tub to bring her other hand to work between her folds. Folds still slightly swollen from earlier and barely hiding the continual moisture that gathered whenever she and John occupied the same space at the same time.

But she pressed forward, increasing her speed with the increase in the sweep of his motions to bring herself closer to climax. Even with the rising tension between them, John's shoulders stiffening and his back tightening as if that could keep his hand steady, Anna noted the smooth motions of the razor. Not a fraction of his skin marred under the blades he operated so effortless against his skin. In that moment Anna realized what no one else would ever know about John Bates.

If he had killed his wife, it would have been a calculated move. He would not have poisoned pie. He would have set himself on an opposing rooftop, his scope securely fastened to his gun, and taken a shot planned well in advance. And when the body dropped to the ground he would have been gone before anyone thought to look for him. And if he couldn't use a gun… It would be an almost surgical attack with a sharp blade in a dark alley without cameras.

Her thoughts distracted her enough that her fingers faltered. In that moment John's hands settled on her wrists and Anna's eyes met hers. He studied her for a minute before speaking. "Where were you, just now?"

"Realizing you could never kill your wife." Anna gave a little snort, "Not very romantic, is it?"

"I thought you already knew that."

"I did. But now I know that, if you had done it," Anna leaned forward as her wrists snaked free of John's temporarily slackened grip to open his trousers. "You would've used a rifle and then vanished in a moment."

John nodded, "Is it telling you too much if I admitted I'd planned that kind of thing before? If I'd wondered if I could get away with it and free myself of her?"

"You never went through with it so planning it is…" Anna paused, her fingers just above his pants. "It's the kind of person you are. Always have an escape route."

"Not with you." John's fingers traced the backs over her face.

"You won't need one with me." Anna wrapped her hand around him, pulling and squeezing until John groaned and grasped the side of the tub to hold himself up. "I did say we have time."

"For this?"

"You did say you wanted to be teased," Anna encircled him, drawing up and down. "I think you're just about ready."

"For?" Anna removed her hand to push his trousers and pants down in a single motion and him back to lean on his counter. She went to her knees, wincing at the tile floor but remembering John's care earlier and pushing it from her mind.

"This."

She took him in her mouth and John's whole body jerked. Her fingers dug into his hips, holding him steady as she licked and sucked at him. With her hair pulled back from her face it gave Anna the freedom she needed to move over and around him until his body shuddered under her attentions. Each lick of her tongue had him shivering while her touches to his base, his sack, and his skin left him burning under her.

Anna went for another swallow when John pulled her to her feet. She barely had time to even raise an eyebrow before he pressed her hips against the counter and leaned over the back of her. His nose buried in her hair and he inhaled deeply against her back.

"Like this." His eyes met hers in the mirror. "So I can watch you."

"You could watch me the other way."

"This way," John rubbed himself along her while his hands snuck to the front to pull her thong to the side and allow his fingers access to her. "I get to tease you back. It's only fair."

Anna gripped the sides of the counter as his body pressed the groove of the surface into the line of her hips. But her held there, letting out a keen when John's kisses up her neck were in time with the run of his fingers through her already soaked folds. His knee prodded her legs apart and Anna spread them just enough for John's erection to join his fingers in further exciting the fraying nerves of her body. She whimpered and he drove forward.

"You're so wet Anna." He muttered into her throat, "Did you get like this from playing in front of me or are you always like this?"

Anna pressed her ass into the cradle of his hips to take more of him. He rutted against her, twisting to gain the remaining distance to seat himself fully inside her. They held for only a second before John drew back to the very edge before driving into her as hard as he could. She moaned and he nipped at her neck again, dragging out the sensation.

"You didn't answer my question." John's hands held at her thighs before working back toward her clit. "Are you always this soaking wet?"

"For you?" Anna twisted her hips to catch John's slide and force her vaginal walls to cling to him. "Always."

"It's warm Anna. And you're always so tight."

"Then I guess you'll have to do a better job." Anna tried to taunt but John plunged forward harder, almost knocking her hips against the counter again. "That's can't be the best you can do at teasing me, can it?"

John met her eyes in the mirror and Anna's breath caught at the sight of all the color washed out by his pupil. His fingers tightened on her hips and one hand spread to massage up her back and then settle at the dip above her hips to press her forward. Her fingers skated along for a better hold before John drove into her again. And this time, he did not stop.

The constant piston, the persistent snap of his hips against hers, the sticky slap of skin meeting skin was almost too much. But what did Anna in, other than his fingers working her like a familiar instrument, was the look in his eyes through the mirror. That expression of naked desire and pleasure all wrapped around the cosmos of the moment sent Anna over the edge. A moment later she felt John join her in whatever little world people found when they were too inebriated with ecstasy to notice the real world around them.

They settled and John helped Anna sit before addressing the possibility of growing bruises along the line of her hips. His fingers, so firm before, now played delicately over her skin before kissing her. "I should've done that first."

"You did it now." Anna brought his lips to hers again before laughing a little. "I think we both might need a shower."

"Only if you promise not to distract me in there."

Anna grinned, "I make no such promises."

John grinned back, "I was hoping you'd say something like that."


	15. Hostile Witness

John let his fingers interlace in front of him, holding them steady as they waited for the judge to arrive. Nothing about the room changed in the twenty-four hours since he last sat in the seat he occupied again but the tension felt different. He could almost trace it the same way he used to trace the line to his targets. Given the morning conversation with Carlisle and the nervous ticks of Barrow and O'Brien, John could almost taste the victory waiting for them on the other side of this day.

And that made him stop.

Complacency made soldiers sloppy. Blind trust in luck made snipers miss marks. And any kind of stupid-ass assumptions that things wouldn't go tits up at a moment's notice was completely ridiculous. All it took was the slightest misstep, the smallest change in the direction or strength of the wind, and everything was fubar.

John shook his head, clearing the thoughts away. It didn't matter what he thought at that moment. He could not risk ruining the delicate tension of a near victory with thoughts that could tilt it to a near miss. His mind had to be clear and he had to be in control.

He took a deep breath in as he closed his eyes, holding it until his hands shook, and then released it. Repeating the action slowed his heart rate until the steady beat of it calmed his mind. Once he could think of nothing, John blinked his eyes open in time to see Anna looking over at him. A slight frown furrowed lines into her forehead but John gave her a small smile to soothe the worry. With a nod to one another, she turned back to the materials on her table and exchanged whispered words with Moseley and Baxter, sitting with her as they waited for the judge.

She entered the room and John stood with everyone else, taking the stance he knew well from the military as 'at ease' before retaking his seat. The two constables behind him settled into their stance and John wondered, for a moment, if they thought he was a murderer. Did they believe he killed his wife? The horrible reality was that even if Anna proved him innocent, the country would waste no time in casting their own opinions on his case. They already had but now, with the possibility of freedom so close, there would still be those judging him in the court of popular opinion until the day he died.

Unless... John flicked his gaze to the paperwork passed, organized, whispered over, and then checked by the trio at the table representing his defense. If they could prove his innocence and bury Carlisle in the same stroke then the drama of his life in the public eye would be over in a heartbeat. The only drama left to the public would be the idea that their public defender, the man who successfully mucked up two different cases regarding organized crime, was in bed with something worse.

The only way out was down.

John held his breath as Judge Crawley banged her gavel against the top of the podium and called the otherwise quiet room to order. "I'm sure we'd all like to begin and we'll start with-"

"Your Honor?" All eyes turned to O'Brien as she stood, "I apologize for interrupting you but the Office of the Queen's Criminal Prosecution Services would like to know why you've made the proceedings here private. Doesn't the public deserve to hear about this case?"

"I'm not often in the habit of making a man's life public interest and given the virulence of people's opinions on the matter I advocated for closed session." Judge Crawley waited, "Any other questions before we continue to what really matters, Barrister O'Brien?"

"That's all from me, Your Honor."

"Then we'll proceed." She nodded at Anna, "I believe you've called someone to the stand for today, Barrister Smith."

"I have." Anna stood, her hands on the papers she sorted between Baxter and Moseley. "I'd like to call Mr. Richard Carlisle, head of the Criminal Prosecution Service to the stand."

Barrow and O'Brien froze, turning to one another as Anna waited for Carlisle to come to the bench. But a basic survey of the room revealed him missing. They all waited a moment before Judge Crawley turned to one of the bailiffs.

"I'd like to think that Mr. Carlisle's simply occupied with his duties to the Crown. Please go and retrieve him before I hold him in contempt of court and we have other problems to resolve."

The bailiff nodded and two of them left the room. They were gone less than five minutes before Carlisle entered. John narrowed his eyes as he noted the limp in Carlisle's step and the slight wince whenever his arm moved. He rested it close to his body and leaned over the table as if to speak with O'Brien and Barrow but Judge Crawley knocked her gavel once to get their attention.

"I'm sure you're aware, Mr. Carlisle, that you already made us wait for you this morning when you knew you were supposed to arrive." Judge Crawley held up a paper, "There was a subpoena given to you, in person, that told you to arrive yesterday and then an amended notice for your testimony today. So please, enlighten me, as to why you were not present at start of trial this afternoon."

"I had a meeting that ran longer than expected, Your Honor."

"Then please," Judge Crawley pointed to the podium next to her. "Take your seat and we can get started so you don't make any of us late for any meetings we may have."

Carlisle limped to the stand and John met Anna's eyes when they exchanged a quick look. He shrugged and she gathered her notes to stand straighter. With a nod between she and Judge Crawley, Anna began.

"Your Honor, I'd like to begin by treating the witness as potentially hostile given the nature of his office's accusation against my client."

"Sustained."

Anna faced Carlisle and pointed toward his arm. "Did you have a bit of an accident this morning Mr. Carlisle?"

"Relevance?" Barrow called out and Judge Crawley shrugged at Anna.

"Noted, please stick to your script Ms. Smith."

"Understood Your Honor." Anna passed a paper to one of the bailiffs. "Could you have Mr. Carlisle analyze this and tell me the contents?"

The bailiff took the paper across the room and handed it to Carlisle. He reached with one hand before wincing and using his other arm. John curled his fingers into his palm and held it there as Carlisle's eyes passed slowly over the paper before setting it down.

"It's a list of purchases. Items for a card registered to Vera Bates."

"Do you understand the significance of those purchases?"

Carlisle shrugged and then grimaced, "I'm not sure I follow."

"They're almost identical to this list," Anna handed it to the bailiff and waited a moment for Carlisle to study them. "The second list, however, are purchases only associated with cards that Mrs. Bates opened herself. The first list includes a card she never opened."

Carlisle coughed and attempted another shrug. "Mrs. Bates's credit history is of no concern to me."

"You see," Anna held up another paper, "This confession, signed and dated just before she died, was provided to us by an Angela Bartlett. I'm sure you've heard about her tragedy in the news."

"The name rings a vague bell."

"Then you're aware she and Mrs. Bates were very close friends. Close enough that she writes, and I quote," Anna took a breath, " _She worked in Carlisle's office. It was all very cliched about their romance. She was bored at home. Her no-good husband was never around and he wanted a divorce. So she turned to her boss and, from what she told me, he was a good shag._ "

Anna put the paper down, "Were you aware of Mrs. Bartlett's association with Mrs. Bates?"

"I wasn't aware she knew about-" Carlisle stopped, coughing. "I didn't know Mrs. Bartlett. I wasn't aware that she knew Mrs. Bates."

"But you knew Mrs. Bates?"

"She was my secretary. Of course I knew her."

"How many times did you know her?" John tried to hold back his laugh as a cough but it came out as a choke. "I mean, if Mrs. Bartlett gave this as her final statement then there's some possible truth to your particular proclivities where she was concerned, yes?"

Carlisle's lips pursued and John watched his Adam's apple hit his collar before recovering. "Mrs. Bates and I were engaged in an affair, yes."

"Then, perhaps, you'd like to confirm the truth of Mrs. Bartlett's next statement." Anna held up another sheet. " _She was working late one night when some men came into the office. It was the day when that school got overrun with terrorists up in Yorkshire. They were angry and, according to her, the kind of people you'd cross the street to avoid. They met with Carlisle long enough that Vera thought about going home but she told me she was just as scared to leave as she was to say. She never heard anything but the looks they gave her when she saw them leave had her worried that they'd make sure she didn't hear anything. She told me she talked to Richard about it but all he did was placate her. Told her it was fine, that there was nothing to worry about, but she knew those kind of men. Her husband worked for people like that sometimes and she recognized the look in their eyes. She got real nervous and tried to talk to Carlisle. She told me all this the day before she died and I think he killed her._ "

Anna put down the paper. "Mrs. Bartlett goes on to talk about the kind of proof Mrs. Bates gathered about that meeting but perhaps you can tell me about it. Who were those men, Mr. Carlisle?"

"That's not relevant to Mr. Bates's case."

"If it led to the death of Mrs. Bates then the fact my client is on trial for murder is definitely related to the existence of those men." Anna motioned behind her to John. "The same man you approached this morning about being willing to throw his entire case."

"That was about something-"

"Different?" Anna shrugged, "I guess you thought Mrs. Bates was a fool but, from my research, I've determined that while she was a conniving adulteress she was not stupid. It was why she provided information to Mrs. Bartlett. Is that why you killed her?"

"I didn't-"

"Did she press you for answers about the men? Did she make her accusations and suppositions and you thought she wouldn't leave it alone?"

"She was persistent but it was-"

"Did she put it together about you and Evergreen?"

Carlisle's face paled. "How do you know about Evergreen?"

John sighed as Anna gave a little smile. "I'm sure you'd like to explain how you know Evergreen and then tell us what Vera Bates found out about them to put you in such a dangerous position." She waited, "Would you like to tell us why you had Mrs. Bates killed and Captain Bates accused of the murder?"

"It wasn't supposed to go like that."

Anna's eyebrows rose and John's fingers uncurled to grip his knees. "You mean you didn't kill Mrs. Bates and accuse her husband to try and turn the spotlight away from your relationships with a terrorist organization that put the lives of school children in danger?"

"It wasn't supposed to-"

"Go like that?" Anna nodded and then pointed at Carlisle's injuries. "And I'm sure that those injuries you've got are because you couldn't shut this down this morning. Were they angry that you couldn't get Captain Bates and myself to just vanish into the ether and solve the problem of their organization now being close to investigation?"

"If you hadn't sicced your man at Special Branch on them then-" Carlisle leaned over the podium and then retracted, his face a green shade that faded to pale faster than color leeched with bleach. "I reserve not to answer."

"Probably for the best." Anna stood straighter and turned to Judge Crawley. "I've no more questions Your Honor. I'm sure you can make your judgments given what we've discussed here today."

Judge Crawley blinked rapidly and breathed out. "I think you're quite right Ms. Smith and I'll ask Mr. Carlisle to step down. I'm sure he's got a few things to think about before someone decides to better investigate the information you've presented today."

"It's all here Your Honor," Moseley hurried to arrange his wig on his head and hold up a flashdrive. "It's a copy of the information we were given in the event of Mrs. Bartlett's death and we're sure that it's enough information to launch a formal investigation and clear Captain Bates of all charges."

"That's a bold statement." Judge Crawley interlaced her fingers and narrowed her eyes a moment before speaking. "And deserves investigation."

John held his breath, almost jumping when Judge Crawley spoke to him. "Yes?" He coughed to clear his throat, "Yes, Your Honor?"

She smiled, "It's perfectly fine, I just need you to stand Captain." He did, pushing his palms against his trousers. "I'm going to suspend this trial until these accusations can be investigated. You'll remain out on bail and under the direct supervision of Ms. Smith in the interim so you're not to leave the country and, preferably, stay in the city. Are you amenable to these stipulations?"

"Yes Your Honor."

"Then I'm closing this trial until we've investigated the statements made by Ms. Smith and her team." Judge Crawley struck her gavel on the podium, giving Carlisle a look. "And I'd get your injuries seen to. I'd hate to see what would happen if you went somewhere where you'd need to be at your best."

Carlisle shivered and quickly left the podium, not even sparing a word to O'Brien and Barrow, who watched him leave with open mouths. John followed his progress as well, breathing out before turning to the constables keeping watch on his box. They, however, were not distracted and did not move until Anna came to them. After a moment of smiles she waved John to follow her.

They did not speak until they got to Anna's car in the parking garage. It only took a moment before they turned to one another and their lips met. Anna's hand gripped the back of his neck and she twisted over the gearbox between them to try and keep close to him.

His hand scrambled to hold at the lever for his seat and cracked it back so he shook as the seat dropped to flatten out. Their lips broke apart, the two of them laughing as Anna climbed over his legs and jammed herself between the gearbox and the door to stay over him. When their eyes met it slowed them, the adrenaline rush slowing to a steady beat in their blood that brought their hands together.

Fingers interlaced, traced, and then separated to sculpt and curve over fabric and material. John's jacket opened, the sides of it hanging down and then weighted by the flaps of his waistcoat. Anna's hand curled around his tie and used it to pull him up so their lips could meet.

John followed her guidance in the kiss, sucking at her tongue and the edges of her mouth to keep her slow so they could unravel the moment together and continue it as long as possible. When the kiss did break, dots of black and red dancing at the edge of John's vision, his hands took their turn to unbutton Anna's blouse. When the edges draped toward him, her camisole still keeping the hint of her breasts covered, John whined until Anna kissed him thoroughly again.

With his eyes closed, basking in the stroke and shape of her tongue in his mouth, her shifting motions forced his eyes open. Her blouse and camisole drifted at the corners of his vision and John noted she sat on his legs with only her bra covering her now. But when he reached for it Anna leaned back and shook her head.

"We're still in public."

"We could get arrested for this." John tried to tease back, dancing his fingers up the backs of her thighs to reach under her skirt. He found the string of her thong and tugged it to force Anna's breath to hitch. "Then where would my case be when we're in jail for indecent exposure?"

"It'll be a fine, at most." Anna soothed, combing back his hair.

"You're sure?"

"Sure enough to make a go of it here." She stopped just short of his lips, her body tightening as John's fingers teased inside the line of her thong to stroke through her folds. "We've almost made it John. We're so close now."

"You're close, that's for sure." John teased higher, sliding a finger inside her while the others pinched and glided around her sensitive skin. "Were you this wet taking on Carlisle? Did it get you off to watch him trip all over himself?"

"What?" Anna's breathing caught and she keened when John added another finger while moving her skirt toward her waist so his thumb could have unhindered access to her clit.

"Because it got to me. Watching you trip him up over his words and bury that smug bastard under the weight of his machinations." John leaned forward, pushing a third finger inside her as his lips found the skin available to him through her bra. "Can't you feel how it got to me?"

He ground his hips up toward her core while his hand urged her to settle more securely on his erection. Anna moaned in his ear, her fingers tightening in his still buttoned shirt, and writhed above him. Her fingers released his shirt to work his belt open and tried to force his trousers down his legs before she unbuttoned them. John could only chuckle against her skin as he teased her higher.

"Come first and worry about me in a moment. I'm busy adoring your amazing work and I think you need to be properly appreciated."

The curl of her fingers into his trousers held her steady as John taunted her with the rut of his hips between her legs, the continued attentions of his fingers stroking and curling inside her, and determined kisses sucking red marks all over the available skin of her breasts. When he finally found that spot inside her, a chance glide bringing his thumb down at the same time as the crook of his fingers, Anna bit down at his neck to try and muffle her shriek. But John worked her through the whole thing until her body stopped trembling and quivering over him.

Their eyes met again and Anna seized control of his mouth with a hand curved along his jaw. She held him still, enthralling him with the smooth motions of her body after her orgasm, and continued her slow exploration of him while finishing the final tremors of her climax on his fingers. And she caught John off guard when she took his wrist with her hand and licked each finger before sucking them individually into her mouth.

Placing his hand back on her thigh, and never breaking eye contact, Anna shucked his trousers and pants to his knees to leave them skin to sticky skin. She rested over him, rocking her soaked thong and folds over his thickening arousal until John almost bit through his lip trying to keep quiet. The tilt of her fingers under his chin had him blinking to keep her in his hazy vision as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

"It did get me off. Watching that berk get his one piece of information at a time. Each and every word that came out of his mouth got me hotter because it meant that you could be free. It meant I'd win against him and we'd finally get our chance." She drew back enough to see him as she raised up on her knees to center herself over him, a finger pulling her thong to the side. "So we wouldn't have to confine ourselves secrets. We'll be free soon and I'll get you whenever I want."

John's eyes rolled back into his head as she sunk down on him, twisting just enough to seat him deeply inside of her. White showed on his knuckles as he grabbed for the car door instead of risking leaving telling bruises on her thighs and hips while his feet pressed into the floor of the car. But John could not hold back when Anna used her knees as leverage to rock back and forth on him before attempting to bounce the car on its shocks.

His hands grasped at her thighs to hold her in place as he thrust into her. Each and every motion knocking knees against the dashboard, the gearbox, or the door but also snapping their hips together. The windows fogged, their skin stuck to the seats, and they gasped out their harsh breaths but the combine tones of their moans and groans sent John's teeth gritting together.

He seized for her breasts, kissed every bit of skin he could reach, and fumbled his fingers toward her thong. Catching the material allowed him to run it over her clit, using it to help rub and press where her body's nerves screamed sensitivity. And Anna's nails digging through his shirt to gouge into the flesh of his chest matched the unhindered shriek she let out. A shriek that covered John's own animalistic grunts as he finished inside her.

They steadied and stuttered to their finish, Anna's forehead rested on his shoulder while her fingers fluttered against his chest. But they eventually released their grips on one another and ran their palms over the areas their fingers irritated in an attempt to soothe bruises and red marks. And when their chests finally stopped pressing against one another, their breathing even, they met for a gentle kiss. One without the frenzy or the fury, just the passion.

"Ms. Smith," John whispered, his fingers swirling over the skin of her thighs as he helped pull her skirt back into place and replaced her thong as she shoved the used tissues into the cupholder. "Would you be willing to go on a date with me when I'm finally free of this? A date where I pick you up, take you to dinner, we discuss our life's inanities, and then I drop you off at home with a kiss to your hand?"

Anna's fingers carded through his hair as she smiled. "I'd like that."

"You would?"

"Very much." She let her lips linger on his. "For now, however, I'm going to drive you back to yours and then ride you until neither of us can walk straight. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Do you always get this randy when you destroy your opponents in the courtroom or is this a special occasion?"

Anna grinned, moving back to the driver's seat as John tried to resituate himself and bring his seat back to the upright position. "I guess you'll have to find out if you stick around long enough."

John grinned and pulled his belt across his body, "I plan to."


	16. Custody

Anna frowned, shifting in place, and then gasped out. Her eyes flew open and she groaned at the sight of John buried between her legs. Digging her fingers into the sheet on the mattress, Anna tried to ground herself but each stroke of his tongue teased her mercilessly. She wove her fingers into her hair and pulled her knees toward her chest as the grin spreading over his face etched into her skin while he dug further inside her with his tongue.

The mattress slid along the floor but Anna could only try and arch her neck back into the surface to keep it from moving. When she did, one of John's hands came up and covered her breast. He manipulated it, kneading and massaging in time with the work of his tongue and other fingers inside her, until Anna twisted to get closer to him. Her body only moved so far but John's fingers stretching along the spot inside her while his tongue sucked soulfully at her clit finished Anna with a ragged scream that echoed around the mostly empty space.

Her back hit the mattress, her body shaking and trembling under John's soothing hands and gentle licks, and she tried to tip her head up to look at him. But his tongue did not stop with a single orgasm and when his calming motions turned to seeking out every part of her still buzzing with residual energy, Anna writhed under him. Writhed as he sucked harder and more furiously while her body shuddered with the overwhelming drive of another orgasm. And when she tried to escape the tempting fall into oblivion, even managing to turn slightly, John only pressed a hand at the small of her back to hold her in place.

She crunched her hands in the sheets, digging her knees in place when John used the moment of leverage to gain a better hold. His hands gripped her hips to hold her still as his mouth finished her. Every nerve in her body sparked like lightning ran in her blood and Anna barely held herself up on her forearms in what could be considered a modified plank position.

But John did not give her a moment to breathe. His hips met hers and Anna groaned at the slide of his thick erection pushing through her folds. The slickness there coated over him so he bumped against her swollen and fritzing clit until she buried her face in the sheets. They were the only piece of the real world she had when John thrust forward.

Where his relentless approach had driven Anna to the edge of sanity, now he slowed. His hands slid and glided over her skin until she vibrated with the gentle caress that barely touched the hairs on her arms. Even when his fingers gently tweaked her nipples and his lips grazed over her shoulders she could only whimper and whine while he shifted ever so slightly inside her.

When she growled into the sheets, trying to shove her ass back into the cradle of his hips, he only purred against her shoulders. "Are you eager for more Anna? I thought you wore yourself out last night."

"Please just shag me."

"No seduction first?" He rocked inside her, fingers running down her abdomen to hold at her clit. "Don't you want-"

"Not right now. Just…" Anna groaned into the sheets. "Just hurry please. I can't bear it any longer."

"Your wish is my command."

It was as if an animal unleased at her command. The crack of his hand against her ass coincided with the snap of his hips against hers. Anna's back arched and John's hand skated over her spine to hold at her shoulder so he could kiss at her neck. His teeth grazed there, biting and nipping in time with his thrusts until Anna turned her head. His lips seized hers and his tongue plunged into her mouth to match the piston of his hips into hers. And when Anna keened at the edge, John drove her there before following.

They sagged together on the mattress, Anna huffing into the sheets as John's body slid to the side of hers. Their bodies stayed tangled together and Anna only just managed to move her head enough to look at John. His eyebrows quirked a moment, his eyes still closed, and Anna chuckled into the sheets.

"You've every reason to be proud of yourself."

"I hoped I didn't overstep." His hand smoothed over her ass, soothing the red mark Anna caught out of the corner of her eye. "But I thought it might help you get over the edge faster since you were already so sensitive."

"Well," Anna turned her side, "I can't say I didn't enjoy the… ferocity of your ambitions. I don't think I've had someone so determined before."

"I've got to keep you impressed of you'll think about someone else."

Anna snorted, "Not sure that's possible. Especially not after the way you treat me." She frowned for a moment, "I can't say that I've ever had someone like you before and I don't think they'll be anyone after you."

"That's bold." John tilted onto his side, supporting his head with his hand. "You could get tired of me once the excitement of trying to get me freed is over. Imagine seeing my face day after day when you're not worried about losing it to prison for the rest of both of our lives."

Anna lay back on the bed, shrugging. "It's possible but, again, I doubt it."

"Why?"

She opened her mouth to speak and then smiled as her phone rang. Raising a finger, she craned her neck into the mattress to look over the floor to where it rested by the plug, and groaned. Holding up a finger toward him, Anna lifted to kiss him for a moment before turning onto her stomach. "Give me a moment."

Her knees scrunched the sheets under her and she reached out with her hand to grab the phone but John settled behind her. His mouth moved between her legs and Anna scrunched her eyes closed as her fingers curled back toward her palm. The ringing of her phone jarred her forward and Anna slid to the edge of the mattress to snatch her phone from the charger as John's tongue dipped inside.

Her fingers tightened over the phone, jerking it back toward her body as she forced herself to straighten. Propped on her knees, John's head between them, Anna closed her eyes again as she brought the phone to her ear. Her jaw tightened and she breathed out hard through her nose before answering.

"Anna Smith."

"Yes, this is Richard Carlisle."

Anna froze and then almost bit through her tongue as John's ventured deeper into her. "And what…" She barely contained a groan when John's fingers took the place of his tongue and he sucked hard toward her clit. "What can I do for you this early in the morning, Mr. Carlisle? It's before business hours but I could pencil you in for a meeting later if you're not busy."

John paused, his eyes meeting Anna's, and then worked harder as if to prove his worth as a better option to the person on the other end of the call. Anna dug the fingers of her free hand into John's hair and steered the work of his mouth while her hips ground down on him. Her fingers tightened around the phone and she held it slightly away from her ear before reapplying it to hear Carlisle's response.

"If you could come before business hours that would be… better."

"Better for whom, Mr. Carlisle?" Anna pressed the button for speaker and dropped the phone onto the bed so her hand could now reach behind her to stroke over John. Within a moment the arousal took hold and her fingers struggled to keep a grip on him. "Because I find I'm rather busy before business hours."

"It's… It's important, Ms. Smith. And it involves Mr. Bates so-"

"Captain." Anna bit out and clacked her teeth together as John drove three fingers hard inside her for the response. "His appropriate title is 'Captain' and I'd prefer if you referred to my client by his title. He earned it."

"Fine," Carlisle's growl from the other end of the line matched the one John made as he tongued over her clit. "It concerns _Captain_ Bates and yourself so I think you'll be interested to meet with me."

Anna flicked her eyes toward John, squeezing him until his mouth faltered on her. "What time do you need me to meet with you, Mr. Carlisle?"

"As soon as you can."

"Well," Anna's hand faltered as John dragged his fingers along the spot inside her that sent her closer to the edge. "I'll need at least an hour."

"That's fine. Just… I'd bring Captain Bates with you. He'll want to hear what I've got to say as well."

"Would the police be better people to hear it than us?" Anna and John both held still at the pause on the other end of the line. "I'm sure they're interested in every aspect of this case."

"They are and I'm sure they'll hear it but you'd better hear it first."

Anna shrugged a shoulder and then leaned forward, catching her hand on the edge of the mattress as John sent her over the edge. "We'll be there."

"Good."

The line disconnected and Anna shoved the phone off the mattress. It skittered over the floor as Anna tried to find her hold on the bouncy surface but John already moved behind her. His hands seized her hips and he snapped his hips into hers to plunge forward until she arched back into him.

Her fingers gripped at the back of her neck and her laughed almost on instinct. "Jealous?"

"You took a call before you told me something."

"Feeling forgotten?" Anna cooed and then moaned when John drove forward again. "I could try to make it up to you."

"Just tell me what you were going to say before Carlisle called."

Anna tried to laugh but John slowed his pace, driving only the very tip inside of her. Each motion kept her on the edge of pleasure without giving her the end of it. And when she almost gouged her nails into his skin, John lengthened his strokes to hit the very end of her. Every pull to the edge, holding just beyond the gripping clutch of her clenching muscles, left Anna gasping and whimpering for his attentions to continue.

"Will you tell me Anna?" He punctuated every word with a thrust. "Will you tell me what you were about to say?"

"I couldn't…" She moaned, his hands skating over her skin to hold her breasts before diverting one back to her folds. "I couldn't forget you."

"You told me that part." He whispered into her skin, kissing over her neck. "Why couldn't you?"

Anna turned her head and took his lips with hers, shoving her tongue into his mouth while her fingers guided him at the neck. Their bodies stuck and struck together as the sticky slap of skin kept them coming back together. Their grip on one another tightened and dug until Anna broke the kiss to speak.

"I couldn't because I've wanted you since you saved me at George's school."

John helped her over the edge and they orgasmed together as Anna's vaginal walls tightened over him in the clutches of her climax. Their bodies shook and shuddered together as the mattress slid on the floor. But they landed together and barely separated as they tried to breathe.

Anna faced him, her finger drawing over his face. "I do hope you don't tell anyone about that."

"If my place is still bugged," John motioned around them and snorted. "Then everyone in my organization already knows all about us and what you just said."

Anna covered her face with her hands and then sighed. "At least we didn't try any of these gymnastics on the cot we gave you at first."

"I thought the same thing." John turned over his shoulder toward the cot in the corner. "But I'd like to see if we could break it with our activities some time."

"I don't feel like knocking my ass on the floor as I attempt to ride you until you break." Anna clawed through her hair as she sat up. "This was much better for that last night."

"One of these days you will break me, you know that."

Anna shrugged, moving to the edge of the mattress. "It'll be worth it. What a way to go and what a story to tell everyone when you get to Heaven."

"Do people like us get to Heaven?"

"Maybe." Anna shrugged and stood up, "We'd better get ready to go. Carlisle's expecting us in less than an hour."

"I can't wait until we're no longer at the beck and call of that man." John pushed himself off the mattress and retrieved Anna's phone. "And I can't wait until he's not able to call you on your personal line."

"Jealousy's not a good color on you." Anna grabbed a few of her things, "I'm going to use your shower. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind if I use it with you?"

Anna grinned, "Please."

They managed to get to Carlisle's office building just as the city was waking up. Anna pulled to a stop and paused a moment in her consideration of the building before sighing. "I had hoped to never have to be back here again."

"Carlisle's office?"

"There's a lot of bad memories in this building for me." Anna pushed her door open. "But I'm looking forward to making some where I get the scrape the floor with his smug face. And hopefully leaving a bit of carpet burn there."

"I'll hold him while you punch." John offered and Anna smiled, pulling her still-damp hair up and into a tie.

"I don't need you to land yourself back in prison for assault."

"You'd be the one assaulting him."

Anna locked her car and led John into the building, flashing her ID to the security guard there. "Alright, conspiracy to assault."

They rode up to the offices in silence and Anna adjusted her things before sighing as the doors opened. Walking through the empty office space, Anna put a hand on John's arm to stop him just short of Carlisle's office door. "Maybe let me go in there first?"

"Doesn't he want to see us both?"

"He said the information pertains to both of us but, technically speaking, if he's speaking to the two of us while you're still under investigation and he's now starring as the prime suspect in an investigation of his own. We're already treading the line in some very gray territory here."

John nodded and pointed to a chair just outside Carlisle's office. "I'll wait here then. Make sure none of those scary men come in to interrupt the meeting."

Anna peeked into Carlisle's office, "They're already clear here so keep your eyes focused on the office for now."

"And now on your ass?"

She winked at him, "You can always get a look at that whenever you want." Leaning over to kiss him quickly, Anna grinned, "Just not right now."

John winked back and Anna entered the office, walking the distance to take a seat on the other side of Carlisle's desk. He kept his chair looking out his window, the one arm she could see leaned on the side of his chair to support his chin. Anna crossed her legs and waited but when the silence dragged she could only sigh.

"I'm sure you're trying to get the final upper hand here, with your routine of silence, but I'm not really in the mood seeing as it's before business hours and you've already make my life far too difficult. So," Anna straightened in the chair, "What do you want and how do I get you to stop bothering me?"

"You know, it's a funny thing." Carlisle turned in his chair and Anna froze at the sight of a gun in his other hand. "You were never one for power."

Anna flicked her eyes from the gun to Carlisle's face and back to the gun. "No, I can't say I've ever wanted that."

"Perhaps one of the few people in this occupation truly seeking to do the right thing." He chuckled, "One of the only people convinced you could use your work to do good in the world."

"I do hope this isn't a speech about how I need to lose my naivete."

"I'm not stupid enough to do that." Carlisle leaned forward and Anna gripped the armrests on her chair. "Because when you hunt for power the worst part of it all is that you find it never satisfies. You always want more and nothing can give you what you want."

"The tragedy of the wrong motivations I think."

"Quite." Carlisle cocked the weapon and Anna's back stiffened. "After two failed attempts to impress my superiors and a career that aimed for the porcelain bowl, I had nowhere else to turn."

"So you turned to Evergreen?"

"The government was done using them and I thought, why not?" Carlisle shrugged and adjusted in his chair. "But they're not the people who help you when you disappointment them. And they didn't take too kindly to the idea that someone knew about them. They're the ones who wanted Vera dead and it was either her or me so…"

He gave another chuckle and put the gun to his temple. "I guess I could've saved myself a lot of trouble if I bit their bullet instead eh? Spared us all the pain, I think. Maybe even made me look the hero in the end."

His finger pulled the trigger just as Anna cried out but it was too late.


	17. Contextual Testimony

John held Anna as she worried her hands over one another. Her fingers still shook and her body trembled under the blanket they used but nothing seemed to stem the shivers of shock. Even John's presence was only just enough to keep her from completely dissolving into catatonia. He noted how her fingers scrubbed over one another but the reddish stain of blood remained in all the crevices.

The drone of the constable's voice broke through John's study of Anna's hands and he held up one his own to stop the drone of unanswered questions. "Alright, I think she's been through these questions enough."

"She's not answered any."

"Hence why it's been enough." John sighed, "Could we just get her at a time when she's not still…" He motioned toward Anna's speckled face and the woman nodded while tucking her pen into her notebook.

"I guess we could put a pin in this."

"Thank you. She'll be available at her office tomorrow and no sooner than start of the business day." John helped Anna to stand, tucking her toward his body. "Please contact her at this number."

The constable took the card John offered, frowned at it, and then pursed her lips. "And who are you sir?"

"What?"

"What is your relationship to Ms. Smith here that you can make these sorts of decisions?" Her hand flailed toward John, still holding Anna as if he might step in front of her in a moment. "Are you her bodyguard or-"

"We'll just call me that for right now." John went to move them forward but the constable stayed standing in their direct path. "Please move. I've not got the time nor the patience for this right now."

"Sir we're not done here and I've got-"

"Yes, you are done." John looked up as Mary and Branson entered, holding up their badges. "We'll be taking this case from here."

"I was first on the scene and it's-"

"No longer your concern." Mary waved the woman away. "Please go and bother someone scraping what's left of Mr. Carlisle's personality off that far wall."

The constable grumbled but left the group and John sighed as he looked at the two Dis before him, "I'm actually pleased to see both of you."

"Is that more surprising to you or to us?" Branson winked at John and then ducked his head to try and address Anna. "She responsive?"

"At the moment?" John shook his head. "She's been in a bit of a state since I came in here and found her…"

"What a funny world." Mary made a face at him before looking at Anna, "After everything she's seen in her career, this puts her into a state."

"When was the last time someone got you caught in the crossfire of aiming to get their internals spread over a far wall?" Branson gestured toward Anna. "I saw men like this in Afghanistan and it's not something you just shake off like water splashed from the curbside."

"I didn't say it was."

"Made it sound like she should."

"My point is," Mary scowled at Branson before turning to John. "You're going to get her home safely, yes?"

"I wouldn't take her anywhere else." John nodded toward the clean-up crew, the investigators, and the police. "They're not going to bother us on the way out, are they? I'd hate to get charged for accosting any officers who try and stop us."

"You'll be fine." Mary held up a radio. "We've already arranged further questions for tomorrow, at Anna's office, and you'll be free to leave."

"Good." John went to go but Mary touched his shoulder. "Yes?"

"We've already begun investigating that information you uncovered, from Mrs. Bartlett, and given that your chief reason for being behind bars is now… less of himself, I'd say you've got nothing to worry about."

"You're telling me I'm a free man?"

Branson shrugged, "Free as we can make you. They'll be another inquest, into all this," His hand flailed toward the mess behind them. "But I'd say your case'll get dropped. It wasn't like there was much evidence to use as fodder against you to begin with so you're probably just going to get an apology."

"If he gets anything at all." Mary snorted, "They'll just stop trying to track you down and let you have your passport back."

"Because I needed that to leave the country." John jerked his head toward Anna. "I'll get her home and see you in the morning."

"John," Mary shook her head, "Day after. This isn't going anywhere and she needs time. There's no rush from us."

"Just tell us when and where you need us."

"We'll let you know."

John urged Anna forward and they managed the gauntlet of workers and officers until they reached the lifts. Taking it down to the street, John helped Anna into her seat before getting behind the wheel to drive her car. It took a few moments, adjusting the seats and the mirrors, before John finally pulled away from the building to get Anna back to her flat.

They got to her flat, John managing her keys, and he quickly took the blanket from her. It balled in his hands and John threw it to the side, ignoring it for the moment as he helped Anna toward the bathroom. The shower heads turned to full blast in less than a minute and John helped Anna disrobe before removing his clothes to join her in the shower. He scrubbed over her, taking care with her face and hands before soaping her hair. It took to the shampoo and the conditioner before John scrubbed over Anna one more time.

When they finished, John wrapping Anna in her robe and helping her onto her bed, he rolled her clothes and the donated blanket together before throwing them in a box he kicked toward the front door. He left it there, padded barefoot down the corridor back to her room, and curled up behind her on the bed.

Her hand snaked behind her and pulled his arm around her stomach to hold him close to her. "It wasn't the first time."

"What?" John leaned up and Anna shifted, her eyes only flicking to him for a moment before focusing on the ceiling above them. "What does that mean?"

"It wasn't the first time I've watched someone kill themselves."

John frowned and then nodded, "I guess not."

"It wasn't like last time, that's for sure, but it wasn't my first time." Anna managed a deep breath, the air shaking in her lungs, and her fingers moved over themselves as if she searched for a secure hold in her hands while John's remained on her abdomen where she left it. "I watched that man blow himself up in the freezer at George's school. I watched someone decide they couldn't handle the consequences of their actions and kill themselves in front of me."

John chewed the inside of his cheek a moment before speaking. "Did you ever speak to someone about what you saw that day? About what happened?"

Anna nodded, "Of course I did. It was mandated and provided. I think they wanted everyone to forget what happened but…"

"But it didn't help?"

"It…" Her fingers separated to flail. "How do you describe to someone the sensation of being on the brink of death and watching someone else fall over the edge when you were sure it was supposed to be you? How do you describe and work through that sensation? How do you even know what you're feeling?"

"I think it always helped me to find someone else who'd seen what I'd seen, or something similar, and tell them." John took a breath. "It helped to know I wasn't alone with the horrors and the terrors and the nightmares."

"Me too." Anna's hand found his and interlaced their fingers. Her eyes finally settled on his, "Do you know… Did you feel it when… When we watched what happened at George's school?"

John squeezed her hand. "I know the feeling better than I want to."

"I think anyone who knows it knows better than they want to." Anna turned toward John, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't… I don't want this. I never wanted this. I just wanted to get an innocent man free. I just wanted to understand why George's school got taken by nutters. I just…"

Her face buried at his shoulder and he held her closer, listening for her whispered words over the tears. "I just wanted to do good in the world."

"I know." John kissed the top of her head, breathing to try and help settle her sobs by the steadiness of his chest rising and falling. "I know."

* * *

 _"_ _John? John!" He turned, removing the headphones and frowned up at Talbot. "Gods in Heaven are you deaf?"_

 _"_ _I was busy translating and that takes concentration because not all of us are codebreaking geniuses, like yourself Bletchley Circle." John paused the recording and nodded at him, "What?"_

 _"_ _You know how you've got me and Bertie watching for chatter relating to Crawley's widow?"_

 _"_ _Her name is Mary, Henry, and you know that because you've also been trying to get more time keeping an eye on her." John winked at Talbot as the other man took a moment to flinch. "What about it?"_

 _"_ _Her son's school just sent out an emergency signal."_

 _John frowned, turning to his computer and minimizing the screens and macros up until he could pull up the alerts. One flashed and blinked with the name of a school and John immediately clicked on the all the relevant cues to get a satellite image of the location on his computer. Talbot leaned over his shoulder and tapped at the screen to zoom in on the image._

 _"_ _Someone report suspicious activity, in the morning, and the lunch staff is apparently reporting a delivery they never asked for."_

 _"_ _And?"_

 _Talbot shrugged, "All silent after that."_

 _John was out of his chair in a moment, motioning toward the screen. "Recognize the logo on that van?"_

 _Talbot's hand slipped on the back of John's chair and his forehead almost wacked on the desktop before he recovered. "What the hell are they doing at a school?"_

 _"_ _Who knows and who cares." John hurried out of the room, slamming his fist on a buzzer on the wall as he did. "Code Six everyone, not a drill."_

 _The blaring klaxon of the alarm rang through the building as men and women in black shirts and cargo trousers hurried to the lifts and the stairs. John flashed a badge and the lift emptied to allow he and Talbot to take it straight to the under levels. They loaded into an opening van and John slapped the side to get it moving._

 _No one spoke as those in the van strapped on vests and helmets. John worked a vest over his head, tightening it before strapping two sidearms to his thighs. He checked both and took the earpiece Talbot offered and fit it to his ear. Putting a finger to it, John tapped once._

 _"_ _Check, check, Bates."_

 _"_ _Clear." Talbot dropped his finger and worked the tablet in his hands before turning it toward John. "All silent still. Local bobbies were on it but we called them off. MI6 and MI5 are aware of the situation. They're willing to give us first crack but they've got a squad waiting in the wings."_

 _"_ _Keep them out of sight. I don't want anyone spooked." John handed the tablet back and watched Talbot's fingers race over the surface. "Any other news?"_

 _Talbot shook his head. "No reports of shots fired or even any cellphone signals. They moved fast. Had the whole area shut down in minutes."_

 _"_ _So other than the first call-"_

 _"_ _Nothing." Talbot sighed, "Just what Lady Mary Crawley needs. First she loses her husband to these bastards and now-"_

 _"_ _No!" John held up a finger and everyone in the van stopped. "We're not thinking that. You're not even going to say another word about it. We're getting in there, we're getting that place shut down, and we're getting rid of those buggers. That's the end of it. Do you understand?"_

 _Talbot opened his mouth and then snapped it closed, nodding. "I'll get Bertie handling the PR. I don't want this out in the open before we're ready to move on it. Nothing to anyone."_

 _"_ _I don't even wat cellphone coverage of it."_

 _"_ _They've taken care of that for us." Talbot jerked his elbow to hit the back of the van. "And we're coming in these so no neighbors can make sound complaints about helicopters or anything."_

 _"_ _Not yet." John rested back against the side of the van and took the beret handed him by one of the men with helmets. "Everyone understand the protocol?"_

 _"_ _We're on pattern Delta Captain." The woman next to Talbot with the helmet nodded. "All members are clear and receive."_

 _"_ _Alright." John put his finger to his ear, "This is Captain Bates. All units will confirm, through unit commanders, we're following pattern Delta. If that fails we'll proceed to Alpha Breach. This is Code Six basic protocol. Repeat command and confirm. Group Red report first, then Blue, then Black. Proceed."_

 _All three groups reported and John put his finger to his ear again. "Group Gold proceeds with me. We hold perimeter and establish communication. No one move until my signal, code Coil. Confirm."_

 _John settled when they finished and nodded at Talbot. "Overseer, what's the status of the location?"_

 _"_ _Silent as ever."_

 _John sighed, "Let's keep it that way."_

 _They trundled into the countryside and reached the school, fanning out of the vans and establishing the perimeter. John snapped his fingers and motioned two of the helmet-ed individuals to confront the whirring police sirens and walked to the edge of the grounds. Talbot joined him, handing over a loudspeaker and a cellphone._

 _"_ _To get their attention if they don't answer the phone."_

 _John snorted and took the phone, holding it to the ear with the piece so everyone on the channels would pick it up. A click on the other end answered and he waited. When all he got was breathing, John spoke._

 _"_ _This is Captain John Bates of Black Mountain security. I'd like a name to address you by because I'm sure you wouldn't like the ones I've already come up with for you on the drive over here."_

 _A pause before a woman's voice spoke. "Not sure what names you've got for me but the names for them are those I'd share Captain."_

 _John stopped, swallowing. "Is there a gun to your head ma'am?"_

 _"_ _It's miss and technically, no, but they've got a nice collection of Makarovs and more than a few black market AKs."_

 _"_ _You know your guns."_

 _"_ _I've used those guns." She swallowed, "They've not made any demands."_

 _"_ _Why'd they have you answer the phone?"_

 _"_ _They're…" Another pause, "They want you to realize the cost of your decision should you try and breach the school."_

 _"_ _What do they want with a primary school?" John shrugged, flicking his eyes to Talbot's tablet to watch the progress of the perimeter established by his people. "I'm sure four and five-year-olds are terrifying but that's no reason for extreme action."_

 _"_ _It's collateral. They've… They've sent a message to the interested parties and when their demands are met they'll let the children go."_

 _"_ _But until then?"_

 _"_ _We're their guests, as it were."_

 _"_ _Well, in that case." John sucked the insides of his cheeks, "I'd like to establish a line of visual communication. It could be with you, their surrogate mouthpiece, but I want to know that all of those children are safe and accounted for."_

 _The woman on the other end of the line took a breath, "They want to know how you'll know who they are."_

 _"_ _We've got a list of the children, the staff, and the faculty with their pictures." John brushed his finger over Talbot's tablet to bring up the list. "It's called a yearbook and the school's very proud of it."_

 _There was another pause. "What'll you do about absences and turnover?"_

 _John smiled a little at the woman's persistence. "I'm sure there are parents we can call. We're actually working through the rolodex now to get a headcount and, in a moment, I'll know about how many of them should be there. I'll want to confirm that."_

 _"_ _Or what?"_

 _"_ _Or we do what we do best."_

 _"_ _You'd risk the children here?"_

 _"_ _My people are good. We'll have those kids home before dinner."_

 _He waited through a pause before the woman spoke again. "Are you military, Captain John Bates or is that a title you gave yourself?"_

 _"_ _Royal Army, miss."_

 _"_ _Then perhaps you'd like to know about the modeling clay they use here. It's a good brand. I think it's Russian but it's all over the place and I'd warn you, it gets on everything if you're not careful."_

 _John closed his eyes and cursed, "I've never been one for modeling clay."_

 _"_ _Then you might want to be prepared for it. Kids love it and some adults are pretty good with it. I think it's a passion project for our friends here."_

 _"_ _I'll keep that in mind miss and I'll call back when I've got a headcount I want to confirm. Are they alright with that?"_

 _Another pause, "They'll accept it Captain."_

 _"_ _I'm hanging up now." The moment John disconnected he turned to Talbot. "Get schematics of that building. They've used Semtex and it's everywhere."_

 _"_ _You got that out of Russian modeling clay?"_

 _John shrugged, "The woman on the other end of the line's smart."_

 _"_ _And obviously with military training of her own."_

 _"_ _I hope you're not about to make a sexist comment about whether or not you believe women belong in the armed forces of our great nation."_

 _"_ _More of a question of what's a woman with knowledge of gun designs like the Makarov or the AK-47 or Semtex blasting clay doing in a children's school."_

 _John gave another shrug, "I tend not to question Fate when it decides to be kind enough to throw one my way. It doesn't happen very often and when it does I'm not going to ignore it." He put his finger to the earpiece, "Hold position for the moment. Tighten perimeter and get me eyes in that building if we have to use balloons to get the cameras in place."_

 _It took ten minutes of frantic calls and cross checking for Talbot to have his final list of school occupants and for John's teams to get their cameras in place. The heat and motion sensors gave them the occupied rooms that Talbot worked onto a monitor showing a split view of both the three-dimensional space and the layered floor plan so they could track the motion. John squinted toward the drones spinning silently in the air, holding their positions around the building, and whistled._

 _"_ _You've outdone yourself with those Henry."_

 _"_ _Thank you." Talbot motioned John to another monitor on his mobile unit fully unpacked from the van. "And we're ready for a visual check."_

 _"_ _Go." John dialed the phone and connected it to the port that brought the call up on another screen. It connected and John pulled another headset over the ear with the microphone. "Is this my friend from earlier?"_

 _"_ _Are we friends now?"_

 _John gave a little smile. "We are now miss."_

 _"_ _Do you have the roll?"_

 _"_ _I do." John snapped and pointed to another screen as Talbot brought up the photographs like an exaggerated bingo board. "Are they willing to allow a camera pan for us to confirm the students, staff, and faculty present today?"_

 _"_ _Yes."_

 _John chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. "Are you in a place where you have access to all the faces at once?"_

 _"_ _I'm sure you're smart enough to know that question's irrelevant."_

 _"_ _Maybe you overestimated my abilities."_

 _"_ _I don't think I did."_

 _"_ _Then you're right. Could you give us video?"_

 _"_ _Yes but I won't be in front of the camera."_

 _"_ _Why not?"_

 _"_ _Part of the deal."_

 _John sighed, "Ace in the hole?"_

 _"_ _I used to be an ace, at my old job."_

 _"_ _At your old job?" John motioned to Talbot who hurried to type something and waited for more conversation. "Wear anything particularly flattering then?"_

 _"_ _I find silk's not exactly a comfortable style for all hours of the day."_

 _"_ _Did it help with getting people where you wanted them?"_

 _A small laugh at the other end of the line, "I found I put people, on the whole, exactly where they needed to be. There were usually handcuffs involved."_

 _John leaned over the monitor toward Talbot and smacked his hand away when Talbot pointed to a picture of an escort from an expensive service. With a shake of his head, John pointed to the photograph of women in black robes heralded as 'the newest barristers for the Crown' and had Talbot enlarge it. "Did you have fun with those handcuffs or was it just business?"_

 _"_ _I always have fun, it's what people like me do."_

 _"_ _Have fun?"_

 _"_ _Have more of it."_

 _John tapped on the three blonde women in the picture and Talbot immediately brought up bios for the three of them. In a second they eliminated the two options with no military background and enlarged the available picture. "Can I address you by a name, miss?"_

 _"_ _You'll have three guesses to find it."_

 _"_ _I only need one." John checked the bingo board of occupants at the school. "But, Ms. Smith, we need you to give us a count of those there today."_

 _"_ _I can't tell you more than that."_

 _"_ _I wouldn't put you at risk like that." John stepped back. "Panoramic view please and go slow."_

 _"_ _Don't worry, I prefer it slow."_

 _John narrowed his eyes as Talbot covered his microphone and leaned over to John's unoccupied ear. "If you could stop flirting with the woman on the other end of the phone, that'd be helpful. We're trying to save at least five hundred people here."_

 _"_ _Please proceed Ms. Smith." John waved Talbot down as the screen blinked into camera mode. It moved over the crowd and Talbot's program immediately matched the faces, eliminating them one at a time until they accounted for everyone but the woman whose hand held the phone. "One more pass please, just to confirm."_

 _She passed it again and Talbot gave John a 'thumbs-up' before sending the completed list and clearing the monitors to start working through complicated mathematical equations to locate each and every person in the provided dimensions of the space. John spoke back into the microphone._

 _"_ _You can end the video call now, if you'd like."_

 _"_ _I'd like to ask if you've done any research on Russian modeling clay."_

 _"_ _I have and I think I'd need more pointers on that."_

 _"_ _It's all about the support. And… It helps when you've got more hands for it."_

 _"_ _About how many hands?"_

 _"_ _It's a ratio. Like when you make rice you should always remember it's one cup rice to two cups water."_

 _"_ _What if I make it in an Asian rice cooker?"_

 _A snort came on the other end, "Then think of it like sugar to salt in cookies. One to twenty."_

 _"_ _I've never made cookies with those parameters."_

 _"_ _Maybe, if we ever meet face-to-face, I'll show you how I make cookies."_

 _John nodded to himself, ignoring Talbot's raised eyebrow. "I'll call when we've let the parents know the status of their children. Thank you, Ms. Smith, you're help's been invaluable."_

 _"_ _Always glad to do my part for Her Majesty's Royal Army."_

 _The line went dead and John looked at Talbot, "They've got one man for every twenty people in there."_

 _"_ _If they're even carrying a single magazine each for their weapons…" Talbot shook his head. "We'll have to get them all at once or else we're dealing with casualties. And no one wants their children as victims in this."_

 _"_ _Probably why they were chosen." John puffed air from his mouth in a series of controlled gusts. "Any leads on who they're trying to leverage in all this?"_

 _"_ _Couple ministers and foreign dignitaries." Talbot motioned to the list of students. "These are the future leaders of the world at this school. Swing a cat and you hit someone with a title or a lot of money."_

 _"_ _Then let's not swing any cats." John put his finger to his earpiece. "Group commanders, what's the chance for a single entry with maximum damage?"_

 _"_ _Unless we've located all the Semtex, sir, I'd recommend against it."_

 _John crossed his arms over his chest, "What about our silent bots? Think we could engage a signal jammer?"_

 _"_ _If there's even a signal than it's a microburst so it wouldn't get knocked out with their communications."_

 _"_ _We got a line in." John turned to Talbot, who shrugged. "How'd our line connect if they've got a signal jammer working?"_

 _"_ _Short wave?" Talbot tapped his fingers over the keys. "It's possible that they could engage on a single line."_

 _"_ _They wouldn't be dumb enough to put their trigger on that line would they?"_

 _"_ _My bet, given their lack of demands, if they've got it linked to a single person holding the lines." Talbot mimed an explosion with his hands. "Everyone dies in this jihad kind of thing."_

 _"_ _We don't know if they're jihadists and I'd rather you not assume they're fighting for a god." John paced, "People like this are rarely fighting for anything but personal gain. People with a purpose make a purpose of telling you they are. They've not made demands to us which means it's personal."_

 _"_ _Suggestions on how to proceed Captain?"_

 _John sucked the insides of his cheeks, pacing for another minute before putting his finger to his ear. "I need a possible breach through the sewer system. What'd the pipes look like?"_

 _"_ _There's a drain pipe that would lead you to the underside of the school. It's an old one but since the school's built inside an old castle my guess is they retrofit the structure for current use." Talbot's fingers whizzed over the keys before he flicked his knuckle against the screen. "There. It's outside their range and you'd be invisible to anyone unless they've got people in the tunnels."_

 _"_ _Heat signatures?"_

 _"_ _We'll have to purpose another drone for a sweep sir."_

 _"_ _I'll need three volunteers to come. They'll be on bomb disposal. I need three sets of hands to disconnect the lines and collect the Semtex." John went back to the three-dimensional view of the building. "We'll start from the bottom and work up. Most likely candidates are the structural areas of the structure."_

 _"_ _Which you'll find with me in your ear instead of down there." Talbot nodded at John, "I could get Bertie here to act as negotiator. Someone to distract them."_

 _"_ _I don't want anyone approaching that school who's not a trained crisis negotiator and in full body armor."_

 _"_ _Sir," John put his finger to his ear to hear better. "This is Gold Commander. I've got the skills for it. My people are in position and they could hold the front perimeter while I approach with two."_

 _John paced again before shaking his head. "No, it needs to be me. They've built a rapport with me and I can't lose that."_

 _"_ _Sir, this is Black Commander. I've got three willing hands with me for disposal and we're already near the entrance. If you went forward to negotiate we could enter and take Overseer's guidance to clear out the foundations and get rid of the Semtex."_

 _"_ _All volunteers, commander, remember."_

 _"_ _They've all stepped forward sir."_

 _"_ _They are. The rest of my people'll hold the line here and keep eyes in the sky and feet on the ground."_

 _John turned to Talbot. "How confident are you that they've not heard everything we've said?"_

 _"_ _As confident as I am in the algorithm I use to jump signals and fill everything with white noise." Talbot winked at John. "I'm surprised you even felt the need to ask me if we were covered."_

 _"_ _A terrorist group took over this school. One we've been tracking which means they've probably tracked us before. I want to cross all my T's and dot all my I's before I step onto the grassy knoll."_

 _"_ _Kennedy was shot from the grassy knoll."_

 _"_ _Don't be a dick." John picked up the phone, gesturing to Talbot as he stepped out of the protections of the perimeter and to the edge of the grass lawn stretching before the school. He dialed the number and held it over his earpiece as the entire world hushed. It took longer for the call to connect and he noted the tremor in Ms. Smith's voice on the other end. "We've confirmed all the occupants inside the school and their families are being informed. Thank you for that."_

 _"_ _You won't thank me when I tell you they've got at least two sharpshooters on you. And those are just the ones they've told me they have."_

 _"_ _I'll assume at least double that then." John held up his other hand and stepped forward. "I'll leave my guns here but I want to talk to them face-to-face."_

 _"_ _My voice over the phone not good enough?"_

 _"_ _I'm sorry but no. And no offence intended as potential slights to your honor or your sincerity but I need assurances that this isn't the work of a very competent hacker and his buddies out for a joy ride."_

 _"_ _Not 'her buddies'?"_

 _"_ _Women are far more focused and methodical. If they wanted to cause trouble they'd be sneakier." John took another step forward before two shots exploded into the dirt just in front of his feet. "They're good, I'll give them that."_

 _"_ _Like I said-"_

 _"_ _And like I said, I'm willing to remove all weapons but I can't tell the parents of those children that their kids are safe when I can't swear to it. They're powerful people and they might call in people better than me at this."_

 _"_ _Is there anyone better than you at this?"_

 _"_ _Very few." John waited through another pause before she spoke._

 _"_ _Leave your guns where they are. You're allowed your body armor but you've got to leave the phone. They'll check you when you're inside the building."_

 _"_ _Give me five minutes." John ended the call and held up the phone before bending over to place it on the grass. He did the same with both guns, unstrapping them from his legs to leave the holsters so all he wore was his body armor and the beret. He put his hands behind his head, positioning his thumb to his earpiece. "Overseer, engage stealth mode on my earpiece. Radio silence on my end. Black Commander you're cleared to proceed on Overseer's mark."_

 _"_ _Copy" repeated through the line and John kept his hands on his head as the earpiece dug into his ear. He winced, biting down on his teeth as he walked slowly forward with measured steps toward the front of the school. When he reached it he moved his hands from his head outward and held his position as two men, both holding Ak-47s, came from the front._

 _One raised his gun into proper position, the movements of his chest slow and measured as if the activities did nothing to raise his blood pressure more than a morning walk, and the other patted John down. His hands moved over John's neck, checked his ears, mouth, and nose before digging under the armor. He left the vest in place and grasped hard at John's legs to push over the cargo trousers. Hands then reached into John's boots, even removing them to check for hidden catches and triggers before forcing his feet back into them._

 _The moment of reprieve they granted for John to put his boots back on did not extend to their nod toward his trousers. John frowned as the man who checked over him unbuckled John's belt and dropped the trousers to his boots before stripping down his pants. John put his hands back on his head, grimacing as the man's rough gloves moved over his body and even investigated the possibility of something hidden in any available crevice._

 _When the man stepped back, removing the gloves to toss them into the bin conveniently located outside the front of the school, he nodded at John's clothes. "Replace them, please."_

 _"_ _I thought you would give a full prostate exam with that work ethic." John put himself back in place, sighing when he finished and putting his hands back above his head. "All clear?"_

 _They did not speak, leading John into the building. He noted the exits, the positions of the other gunmen, and the pace of their walk down the main corridor. It twisted and tightened but they managed to get to the Main Hall where one of the men opened the door. John turned on his heel, noting the positions of the cowering staff, faculty, and the sobbing children. The stench of fear, sweat, and urination confirmed their terror and John nodded at the men._

 _The doors shut and John went to move but the men raised their guns. "He wants to speak to you."_

 _"_ _I don't, traditionally, grant audiences with people who use such unspecific terms for the fear effect." John kept his hands held to the back of his head. "Does this mysterious 'he' have a name I can actually use?"_

 _"_ _Green." The one keeping his gun trained on John. "We're all called 'Green'."_

 _"_ _How wonderfully cultish of you." John muttered and shrugged. "Lead on. I wouldn't want to keep 'Green' waiting."_

 _They moved to the second level of the school and opened a door to a classroom. John counted the total number of men in the room as five with a short, blonde woman. Her eyes barely flicked toward him before focusing on the man in front of her as the two men escorting John kept close to bring the total number of standing guards to six. The other man, the one with his gun strapped across his back, turned to John to smile._

 _"_ _I see we just couldn't stop ourselves being the hero."_

 _"_ _It's good business practice. I've got a reputation to uphold and I wasn't going to bet it all on technology." John shrugged, his fingers itching in his hair when he noticed the man's vest, coated in Semtex with wires leading to a switch on the back of one hand. "I'm a bit of a luddite. Always trust your eyes."_

 _"_ _What about when you can't trust your eyes, Captain?"_

 _"_ _I've got four other senses." John's mouth formed a thin line. "I could smell them and that would've told me all I needed to know."_

 _"_ _Then, since we're all friends here, let me tell you what I know." The man brought his leg off the desk and walked toward John to grab his face with both of his gloved hands. "I think you're here because Black Mountain wants to prove they're better than Evergreen."_

 _"_ _We don't have to prove that."_

 _"_ _Don't you?" The man's thumbs dug into John's ears and the piece pressed hard against the back of Jon's ear canal until it hit into skin. But the man removed his thumbs without retrieving it and John moved his own thumb over the area to try and stop the possible bleeding. "It's why you're the ones they send out and not us."_

 _"_ _We don't take over children's schools to prove our capabilities."_

 _"_ _Not yet." The man stepped back, slapping a hand to his vest as he approached the woman. "But one day you'll crack. They always crack."_

 _"_ _Like you did?" John maneuvered his thumb into his ear and flicked over the piece. "I'm sure you've been preparing for this for some time."_

 _"_ _This is Black Commander, we're all cleared on the foundations and the one we got to talk claims there's no more. Matching sweep from the basement and ready to proceed on your mark."_

 _"_ _This is Red Commander. We've taken the roof and we can repel down to all posts in the upper windows."_

 _"_ _This is Gold Commander, we've got the perimeter and the gas cannisters ready to deploy when ready. We'll blow the front doors and get into the mess hall simultaneously to get the ten men in there."_

 _"_ _This is Blue Commander, ready to sweep and clean."_

 _John eyed the men in the room and the two next to him. His next words went to the man with a smile on his face and a hand casually brushing the trigger on the back of the other. "It'd be a shame to ruin all your hard work in one go."_

 _It was as if five simultaneous bombs deployed. John's hands swept down and knocked the barrels of the AK's away before turning to his left. He grabbed into the man's holster for his Marakov and shot the man in the head before turning to the one on his right. That man had no more chance of releasing one gun for the other or bringing his gun up before John put a bullet between his eyes. Setting himself down on one knee and using it as a pivot, John fired four more times to bring the other four sentries in the room down in the same fashion._

 _He rose to his feet, supporting the gun with his right hand while his left pointer fingers settled just over the trigger. The man now held the blonde woman with an arm under her neck and one hand one the trigger to the vest he wore. But he contorted his arms so the hand with the vest trigger now held a gun to the woman's forehead. John frowned and then managed a little smile._

 _"_ _You're not a soldier for the cause, are you?" John took a step forward, noting how the man dragged the woman with him, keeping her in the awkward embrace that she struggled to fight. His eyes found hers and then flicked toward the wires pulling down the man's arm toward his vest. Her fingers brushed them, as if batting back at the man, and John nodded when she gripped them. "You don't want to die for whatever this is, do you?"_

 _The man refused to answer but John noted the twitch of muscles in his cheek to signal the grinding of his teeth. John focused on the wires for a moment before giving the smallest of shakes when she picked at the first wire. She moved to the next one and John nodded. Her fingers wrapped around it and their eyes met as she gave a little nod._

 _"_ _You don't want to die. You want to escape. You want to leave." John used his elbow to gesture to the dead men around them. "You don't want to end up like them, I'm sure, and as surprised as you may be to hear it, I don't want to kill you."_

 _"_ _You're like me." The man hissed and John blinked. "A sniper and a killer. It's in your blood. It's what you are."_

 _"_ _It's what I do." John held his gun steady as the other man's shook in his hand. "Don't make the mistake of pulling what you don't mean to pull."_

 _She jerked the wire free and John surged forward. He helped tear her out of the other man's grasp with one hand while the other brought his palm down on the man's nose. It crushed under the force of his strike and blood spurted at John. He dodged it but not the man's elbow when it caught him over the chin. He stumbled back, knocking into a few desks and overturning them in his haste to correct his own downward motion. But he hit the floor hard and then heard three cracks._

 _With the force of a horse, three strikes hit his back and John groaned into the floor. He forced himself to turn and another crack almost deafened the ear with the piece in it. The ringing only magnified with the feedback from his microphone and John clutched at his head to try and dig the earpiece free. It skittered over the floor and he staggered to his feet, falling into another few desks before he could reach the wall._

 _He blinked past tears and haze to see the woman trying to fend off the man but he caught her across the cheek with his gun and looped his arm around her neck again. They dragged from the room, John staggering to try and follow. He tripped over two of the bodies, scrambling to find their pistols, and work himself after the man in the vest._

 _Shouts and fog filled the halls but John squinted and tried to focus his good ear on the noise of a struggling woman and a sliding man. He followed it to the lift and banged on the door as it closed, taking them down into the basement of the school as the indicator lights gently ticked toward the lower levels. Skidding a bit on the floor, he found the stairs and hurried down them to try and beat the lift's descent._

 _But a shot kept him just around the corner, followed by a cry of pain. John risked a peek before pulling back quickly enough to catch the sparks of three shots hitting the far wall. He breathed out and darted into the corridor, pushing one of the tray towers ahead of his to deflect more bullets. It crashed into a form and John turned around it's falling structure to bring his fist into the man's face._

 _The other man turned and John's fist glanced off his cheek but confused him enough to allow the woman to jam her elbow into his gut. He bent with the blow and John jumped into the air to bring his fist down with enough force to shatter the man's cheekbone and jaw. The weight of his thud to the floor had John holding to a metal counter for support for a second to try and regain his breath._

 _He winced at the pain in his back and the buzz in his ear before turning to the woman. She held up her hand to stop him, nodding as he handed over one of the guns. It had only just got into her hand when John hit the floor hard on his ass. Pain bloomed over a bruised tailbone and even worse at the three more shots that hit his chest. With back and chest now bearing the brunt of the shots, John fought to get air into his abused lungs as the man stood over him._

 _"_ _You're just like me."_

 _"_ _I'm… not." John wheezed the words, putting his shaking hands behind him to sit up but the man's boot caught him over the chin and his head cracked on the slab floor. Stars blinked before his eyes but he managed to remain conscious. "I'm not… like… you, Green."_

 _"_ _My name's Sampson." He reconnected the wire and put his hand over the button. "And you're wrong. I am ready to die for this."_

 _John barely blinked before something hit Sampson sideways. They tripped over John's feet and he worked to get himself standing as Sampson and the woman struggled over the trigger. She kept reaching to pull at the wires and he tried to fight her off while putting his fingers toward the trigger. John drove himself into Sampson's midriff and knocked his arm wide. As he came up, barely missing getting his own nose shattered by the force of the headbutt Sampson aimed at him, John snagged Sampson's arm between his body and bent it against the elbow._

 _A horrible crack and twisting snap matched the blood curdling scream of pain from Sampson. He kicked John away and pushed the woman off him, catching her in the side with a boot, and scrambled back over the floor. Holding his arm against his chest, he swung his head around as if looking for a place to go before trying to move his hand over the trigger. John charged again, driving Sampson back into the door of the large, walk-in freezer. They hit hard and both sagged to the ground before John reached for the door handle._

 _It opened with all his effort and, with Sampson still cringing and holding an arm now projecting bone from the skin, John tossed the other man inside. He closed it, shoving the pin through the lock, and dropped to the floor. But as his eyes settled on the woman, she could only point._

 _John hurried to his feet, taking the kindly offered hand, and watched through the window as Sampson pulled his hand up. John grabbed the woman around the waist and pressed her to the wall as the door to the freezer blew off its hinges to hit the counters. Dented and creaking, the door's settling sounds had John moving his body off of the woman. He peeked into the freezer and stopped her doing the same._

 _"_ _He's gone."_

 _She nodded and slumped to the ground, breathing deeply as John collapsed in front of her. Their eyes met and she finally opened her mouth to speak. "I'm Ms. Smith."_

 _"_ _Good to finally meet you face-to-face."_

 _"_ _Likewise." She closed her eyes and they kept their positions until the rest of John's people came to retrieve them._

* * *

John ran his fingers through Anna's hair. "I've never been more scared in my entire life than when I heard your voice over that phone."

"What?" Anna lifted her head, forcing Joh's hand out of her hair. "What phone are you talking about?"

"That day, at George's school." John let his fingers coast over the fluffiness of her robe. "And when I finally saw you, saw how brave you were despite everything going on around you, I felt even more scared for you."

"Why?"

"Because you were so strong and I thought that meant you'd endured far worse than them." John met her eyes, "I didn't even know you and I wanted you to never have to face anything like that again."

"I remembering being terrified when he shot you the first time. And when he shot you again. I thought I'd die if you couldn't go on fighting." She reached up, her fingers tracing the lines of his face. "I didn't think I could live if I knew I wasn't fighting just as hard to stay alive, just as hard to get those kids out. I didn't want you to die knowing I'd done less than all I could to help you."

"I didn't want you hurt."

"I didn't want that for you either."

John kissed the tips of her fingers as they reached his mouth, "What are you doing Anna?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are we doing together?"

She dropped her gaze, her fingers now moving to pad over his bare chest. "It's more than fooling around, I know that."

"Me too." John's fingers went back to stroking through her hair, drawing the drying strands over the pillow behind her. "I don't know what it is, and that frightens me, but it frightens me more that I'd have to think of you out of my sight or my life ever again."

"After all this?"

"After that day." John sighed, "I was married then and I hated myself for all the thoughts I had about you but when you walked into the prison, when I realized that maybe… just maybe, Fate wanted to be kind to me again, I'd seize the chance with both hands and never let go."

"And you won't?"

John shook his head, moving his fingers from her hair to tickle up her jaw. "Never. I couldn't, not ever, because while I don't want to call it 'love at first sight', I don't hesitate to say it's a Dickensian 'love at first sight'."

Anna gave a little smile, "I'm not sure that Dickens knew shit about terrorists with automatic weapons aimed at school children and the affection you can find for a person in the midst of that but I'll accept it." Her hand flattened above his heart, the heat radiating between them in perpetual motion. "What now?"

"Doesn't it say something about forever when I know that we felt so much for each other before we'd even really seen each other or really spoken?"

"It means a lot to me that you're quoting _Nicholas Nikleby_ , that's for sure."

John moved over her, his fingers prying her robe apart to expose her skin to him. "Can I let it mean more?"

Anna's lips met his and John moved slowly. His hands carefully removed her robe, tossing it off the bed before he shifted his towel free. The soft thumps of the fuzzy material were nothing but white noise as John continued his adoration of Anna's mouth. Her fingers wove into his hair and her body shifted against his, sliding and gliding for holds until John broke the kiss.

His attentions moved lower, adoring her breasts with long licks, slow sucks, and gentle nips until Anna's breath caught in her chest and she whined and keened for him. The insistence of her fingers in his hair had him pushing against the duvet to skate lower to leave his wet traces on her abdomen. And when her legs spread on their own and his mouth did the work to bring her to climax, Anna's fingers eased in his hair at the gentle glide toward oblivion.

With her stated and ready, John thrust forward but kept his motions slow. Each drive into her was carefully orchestrated and aimed to find those places inside her where she cried out or bit her lip or arched her back. He left kisses over her exposed neck and lips, exchanging the speed and heat of their kisses for the steady, rolling piston of his hips into her. And with each motion, bringing their bodies more firmly together when his hand held at her hip and his elbow tilted to urge her legs to spread wider, John set them on fire.

She broke first, clinging and clutching to him with her hands and her vaginal walls until he succumbed to the suggestion. They shuddered and stuttered together, breathing hard into one another's skin as their fingers quivered in their post-coital exploration of one another. Each motion soothed them from their high until they risked looking at one another in the blue-white light from the moon and the vague impression of orange street lamps below.

It was then, with Anna's leg still around his hip and him still buried inside her, Anna flipped them. John bounced on the mattress but the glow in Anna's eyes suppressed any desire to laugh at the comedy of the motion. She rocked once, tweaking his still sensitive muscles, before drawing off him slowly.

Their eyes stayed locked together as Anna lowered her mouth to him. She licked over him, the evidence of their actions just moments before vanishing onto her tongue so slowly that John's body already hummed with a desire to do it again. Her fingers holding, grazing, and massaging the weight between his legs and the base of him forced his hands into the sheets to hold there as she tempted him to another high. One that he succumbed to when she finally relented to his pleading whimpers at the assault of her mouth in soulful sucks of her own on him.

Anna put her hands to his chest, keeping him flat on the bed as she mounted him, sliding him deep in a single stroke. They held there, John's hands shaking as they sought her hips, and he tried to thrust but Anna shook her head. Bending over him, twisting her hips to let a groan shake his body and vibrate through hers, Anna put her lips to his ear to whisper.

"Slow, remember. I like it slow."

They undulated together, hands touching and memorizing in time with the exquisite slowness of their actions. Each embrace or massage or knead or grip meant to stoke a fire rolling toward inferno without releasing into an uncontainable mass of raging flames. Each one careful licked, stoked, and soothed to guide them to a higher height than just the pinnacle of pleasure. Each cultivated to give off the deepest sounds, the most guttural of groans, the strangled moans, and the hitches at the back of throat that left them forcing air into the bowels of their lungs.

Anna helped John break first, urging him toward her with fingers pulling at the skin of his shoulders. He sat up but bent his head to take her breasts in his mouth again. Her fingers raked over his back and John came in a rush, pumping his hips toward hers with no thought for their urge of 'slow' but Anna was to busy enjoying the caress and suck of his lips over her breasts to care. And when his fingers played over her clit, her walls twitched and she came with a shout from the back of her throat.

They lay back after that, Anna's hair fanning like silk over John's chest as he lay back into the pillows. There were no more words, just butterfly-touches of their fingers over skin while they settled, and eventually they breathed together as their hearts synchronized. At that trigger they both drifted off to sleep.


	18. Special Recognition

Anna opened her eyes at the sound of voices and turned just enough to see John, standing naked at the window of her bedroom, with a phone to his ear. He paced, keeping his voice low, and paused when he saw Anna blinked at him. She managed a smile and he smiled back, letting his voice raise just a little.

"And you're sure?" He caught Anna's eye again and hit the button for speaker before climbing back onto the bed to join her.

"Henry's the one who confirmed it. We're both in Hong Kong right now and what Blake's telling us… It's Evergreen John. They're here and they're pissed. We think they targeted Blake because of the help he gave us with you."

"Bertie…" John blinked at Anna, his eyebrows widening as she sat up but continuing to speak. "Bertie I need you to tell me if we're in any danger on our end."

"More than just 'we happened to end a powerful prosecutor for the Crown' kind of trouble?"

"Yes, that kind of trouble." John swallowed as Anna kept eye contact with him while leaning forward to put her hand over his exposed, and growing, arousal. "We need all the eyes and ears we have on this. I don't want to keep looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life."

"You'd rather we do it?"

"If the shoe fits." John shifted and Anna tried sucking in her cheeks to keep down her grin as he coughed to regain his composure on the phone under the steady stroke of her hands. "It's what you're supposed to do, isn't it? Find and eliminate the target."

"You make it sound so easy but you've only ever been on the 'eliminate' end and when you're dealing with a paramilitary organization that's turned itself into a terrorist group the 'find' part is a little more difficult."

"I'm sure-" John's voice hitched as Anna lowered her mouth to gently suck the tip of him. He gritted his teeth and Anna grinned for a moment around him as his knuckles whitened while holding the phone.

"John? You still there?"

"Yes." John's voice hissed out as Anna opened wider and hollowed out her cheeks to inhale more of him. "I'm here."

"You were saying you were sure about something."

"I'm sure that 'search and destroy' is the prerogative we'll get from the government when they…" John grunted, his hips bucking when Anna added a hand to wrap the base of him while her other hand fondled his sack. "When they finally get their heads out of their asses about me and figure it was all a decoy anyway."

"Rough go there mate."

"Case of unfortune circumstances compounding." John's eyes scrunched shut when Anna opened her mouth to take him even deeper and he hauled in breaths that expanded his chest to full capacity before he risked another sentence. "Bertie, something's come up. I'll text you later if I learn anything."

"Same here. Take care John."

"Yep." He hung up the phone and tried to urge Anna to her feet but she only shook her head and squeezed tighter while sucking harder.

John came in a rush and Anna waited until his head was back against the headboard before withdrawing, giving him a last suckle before finishing. She winked at him as he tried to find enough air to breathe before he could even speak. Her legs extended and Anna lay back, propping her head up with her hands to grin at him from the distance.

"It's not often I get to taunt you like that."

"No," John shook his head, scrubbing his hands over his face before he spoke again. "Probably because I'm on a hair trigger and it's takes longer for me to reload."

"Aren't we full of weapons metaphors today?" Anna nudged his thigh with her leg. "Are you going to tell me it's a dangerous tool and that I should make sure I've got proper certifications before handling?"

"You're teasing me and I'll have none of it." John raised a finger but Anna could only let her smile continue. "Want to do something today?"

"Like?"

"Well Bertie told me, this morning, that my passport's being given back and my accounts aren't frozen anymore so that means I could actually take you out on a date." John changed his position, stalking over the bed to put himself on his stomach beside her. "Would you like to go on a date with me Ms. Smith?"

"What about Mary and Tom? Aren't they coming by this morning?"

John shook his head, "Mary was kind enough to give us a grace period. We meet up with her tomorrow, at your office, and not before then." His fingers found their way up her arm, tracing along the line of it. "So, what do you want to do with your free day?"

"I should probably work on tying up your case."

"Which has become frustratingly connected to your case that we're handling tomorrow so," John dipped his head, taking his lips the rest of the way up her arm to her shoulder. "What do you want to do with your day?"

"If you punctuate every word in that sentence with another kiss I might have to rethink the intelligence of dating you."

"We're dating now?"

"After last night's discussion, I don't know how we couldn't be." Anna tipped toward him, her hand moving to hold her head up while her fingers ran over the lines on his back. "Where do you want to take me?"

"A nice dinner, somewhere private where the news never reached them and we'll be completely anonymous." John moved over her collarbone and Anna's finger dug into the skin of his back while his hand manipulated itself to slide down her abdomen to rub his palm between her legs. "You pick the cuisine."

"Not sure I know any place that meets directive one so," Anna shifted, her leg going over his ass to give his hand more access to her center. "We might just be shit out of luck and have to stay in."

"No." John shook his head, taking his kisses to her breasts while his fingers scissored through her folds. "I'm taking you out so we can celebrate in style."

"We've not officially won yet." Anna tried to shove at him with her palm but her hand needed the support of his shoulder when John moved two fingers inside her. "We can't be celebrating a victory that's… Not yet ours."

"My mother always said to celebrate the little things."

"I'm sure she did." Anna huffed, her hips bucking and rocking onto John's hand in time with the press and flick of his thumb at her clit. "But we're still not going to jinx it when we're so close."

"It's not a jinx." John wrapped his lips over her breasts. "It's hedging our bets and my bet is, you want to be wined and dined properly before I bring you back here, undress you slowly, and take you hard on your bed."

"I want that now." Anna finally shoved enough at his shoulder to get him back. "Do that now please."

"Just a moment." John sucked hard at her breast, flicking his tongue against her nipple while his thumb echoed the motions on her clit. She writhed and rolled her hips to get more from his fingers. So John added a third and crooked them inside her to run along the line of pleasure.

Anna broke, her nails gouging into John's shoulder before she lay back, panting on the bed. John's fingers eased out of her, moving with the cling and release of her spasming muscles, and withdrew to draw over her quivering skin. She flicked her eyes toward him as he took his fingers into his mouth, one by one. With a surge of adrenaline, Anna took his mouth, almost toppling him onto his back on the bed to try and find the taste there for herself.

But John reversed the motion. With a careful angle, he flipped Anna onto her back and used his hands to spread her legs wide before plunging into her in a single stroke. She bit at her lip as her hands scrambled to find a hold on him. But the best response was the automatic one her body provided in the tilt of her hips to take him even deeper. They ground together, seeking out the last micro-measures of distance separating them from being one person. When they could not find it, they settled for rutting into one another with abandon.

Even with John's hands at her hips, Anna noted the twinge in his lip of dissatisfaction. But before she could ask him about it, or even attempt to form words, John withdrew. She gasped out and then yelped as John turned them over the bed so he stood beside it and her legs almost draped over the edge. With careful hands he positioned her legs and moved her hands to them.

"You might want to hold on." He bent over her, his mouth taking charge at her breasts again, and drove forward.

Anna's head hit the mattress so hard her neck arched. But she almost immediately pulled back at the scrape of John's tongue along the line of it before he shunted into her again. She groaned, fingers pulling at John's hair, and brought his mouth to hers in an attempt to match the frenzy of his pace with her tongue and teeth. It failed but when they finally broke apart for air- John having driven all of it from Anna's lungs with the force of his drives- Anna snaked her hand between them.

The angle of John's body on hers, the hold of her hand, and the insistence of her fingers sent Anna over the edge again. She cried out her finish, scrunching her eyes shut to enjoy the pleasure of it undulating through her body before John withdrew. Before Anna could even comprehend what was happening, John helped her turn and set her feet on the floor while positioning her weight onto her forearms.

"If you want." He paused and Anna shivered as the slickness of his wet erection caressed the line of her ass. "We can-"

"You said hard." Anna worked herself up enough to look over her shoulder at him. "Don't be gentle."

John's hand landed on the middle of Anna's back and her chest hit the mattress as he drove forward again. Spreading her legs, Anna curled up almost onto her toes at the force of John's thrusts but he did not stop. The perpetual piston of his hips set a punishing pace she could only meet by throwing her ass back toward the divot of his hips. A position he held her to with his hands tight on her ass so he could grind himself deep.

Anna's moans muffled in the sheets but she bobbed right back, taking everything she could before maneuvering one of her arms perpendicular to her body. The other slipped between their legs and caught John as he brought their skin together with a sticky slap. He faltered for a moment, his forehead resting on the middle of her back as he twitched in her grip. When Anna's fingers managed to caress along the exposed part of his arousal, John drew back and managed to move faster, striking harder, and increasing the risk of bruises to her skin.

But when she retracted her hand, slipping back to help herself over the enticing promise of another edge, Anna brushed over him again. John's body stuttered and released, responding on instinct to continue the shunt of their bodies together until he sagged back. All the while, Anna rode the clenching wave of promise over the edge and collapsed onto the bed.

Her fingers flexed in the sheets, as if her body needed to confirm the flow of blood there, and she finally lowered herself to her knees next to the bed. The sheet came with you, floating down to wrap half over her as she faced John where he sat naked under her window. Anna gave a half-grin, her finger pointing at him with all the dexterity of a drunkard.

"That's why I did you know."

"What?"

"I woke up and there you were, pacing in front of that window wearing nothing but your birthday suit and I couldn't say no to the chance to take that." Anna rested her head against the mattress, her smile lopsided and happily drugged. "It was like watching art move."

"You can't be serious."

"I thought you had a nice ass when I saw it in cargo trousers. Of course I'm going to think it's nice when it's naked in front of me." Anna forced an arm behind her to lift herself from the floor, keeping the sheet around her. "And, honestly, the best part of being your girlfriend is that I don't think I have to work out anymore."

"No?" John put a hand through his hair and moved off the floor to approach her, walking a little unsteadily. "And why's that?"

"Because you already give me all the workouts I need." Anna tucked the sheet over her shoulder. "How do you feel about sushi?"

"Runs me a bit ragged in the gut."

"Curry?"

"Depends on the country of origin."

Anna pursed her lips, "There's a lovely little place that does smoke salmon and good seafood unless it rubs you as wrong as sushi does."

"The problem is sushi is the classy stuff's not cooked."

"So you're good with a seafood place?"

"The chance to dine next to an aquarium." John shrugged, "Why not?"

They whiled away the time between their decision and their date tying up loose ends. Anna spent several hours in her office on conference call with Baxter and Moseley about the case and the resulting investigations now stemming from their findings. John spent most of his time on the phone in different languages before occasionally writing things down in a combination of hieroglyphics Anna could not hope to interpret. But when they finished, or as finished as they decided to be after a day of running circles and accomplishing the little they could on their end, they changed for dinner.

Bertie, in his goodness, came by Anna's for another bug sweep and provided John a suit for dinner while also promising the use of a very fine car. One Anna itched to drive when they walked out of her building and saw it. "How'd he get this?"

"Bertie's father was a car enthusiast. This was his grandest piece but Bertie's not a fan of cars so he uses it for some of the work we do." John opened the door for Anna, "I didn't think you'd be an Aston Martin kind of person."

"Who's not?"

"I figured you for a racing Ferrari or something." He shut the door and crossed over to his side. "But his car's got a few James Bond-style gadgets that Bertie installed so I'd prefer it in a case like this."

"It's just a date, Captain." Anna tried to soothe but John shook his head.

"Not when there's still a chance we've got terrorists after us." He flicked a switch. "I'm taking no chances with a date I hope goes exceptionally well."

"You've already started it well." Anna let her hands rub over the interior. "Is this the part where you ravish me in this ridiculously expensive car?"

"No," John put a hand to his chest. "I promised dinner and if I wanted to get you out of that dress I'd want to do it like I promised."

"As slowly as possible?"

"Unless you didn't want me to pull it off with my teeth." John snapped them toward her and Anna laughed, letting her head rest against the support behind her.

"Onward then. You've got ravishing to look forward to."

They drove through town, John edging on all the speed limits to get them to their destination before revving the engine to impress the valets. Anna shook her head and took the offered hand to help her out of her seat when John rounded the car before tossing the keys to the woman at the door. "It's not mine so please don't break it. I can't buy it back."

The woman gave them a mock salute and they entered the restaurant. A hostess guided them to their tables and Anna accepted the drinks menu, which John refused. "Not a fan of the alcoholic?"

"Not a drinker." John shrugged, "In other situations I'd have my own set of keys to show you the chip dangling there but I haven't got a car that's not in storage and I've not had time to evaluate my assets."

"Must be difficult," Anna pointed to the drink of her choice and handed the menu back over. "Your wife dies, you're… somewhere else, and then you come back to get a pair of cuffs slapped on your wrists instead of the chance to grieve and mourn and put all your affairs in order."

John leaned back in his chair, "We've never discussed Vera before… outside of the criminal context that is."

"We've never had a reason to before." Anna set her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers. "What are you going to do, now that you're ninety percent of a free man?"

"Probably go back to what I was doing before."

"Running a paramilitary company contracted by the government?"

"I never said I run it." John held up a finger and Anna accepted her glass from the man with the tray. "I just work there."

"Don't think I'm not smart enough to see that the house I helped put you up in wasn't immediately bought by your company as a possible safe house for later and that your name was on the ownership agreement." Anna sipped at her drink, pushing it around her mouth a moment before nodding at the man. "Could I have a half bottle of this, if you've got one?"

"Yes ma'am." He nodded and hurried off as Anna turned back to John.

"Mr. Pelham may be the initial money behind the venture and Mr. Talbot's your brains, so to speak, but you're the face of Black Mountain. It's your company and, I'd hazard, was your idea when you got out of military service."

"I'm still in military service."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "But not like other people are. This program was your idea and it's run because people trust you."

"They didn't trust me enough to help me out of a jam until your Mr. Blake twisted their arm."

"We all need our arms twisted to do things against our own self-interest and governments, chronically, are rarely fighting for the little man they'll simply roll over to get what they want in the end." Anna took another sip before setting her glass down. "Will you go back to doing that kind of work?"

"I don't know how to do anything else and I'm good at what I do so…" John spread his hands before studying her. "Would you want me to do something else?"

"I wouldn't have you be anyone but who you are." Anna let her fingers turn her wineglass by the stem. "But it's not my choice, is it?"

"I was hoping you'd be involved in my personal future, even after I'm a hundred percent a free man, and that does require your interest, however tenuous that interest may actually be." John stopped, "Unless we're just shagging like rabbits because there's not supposed to be anything else to it."

"I thought we established, last night, that there was more to it." Anna brought her fingers away from her glass to hold John's gaze. "My interest, in your business, has more to do with whether or not you'd leave it."

"I'm good at it."

"That wasn't in question." Anna tried to suppress a smile. "I was hoping I could tempt you over for your idea of 'Smith and Bates Investigates' or whatever we chose to call it."

John's eyes widened. "You want that to be real?"

"We make a good team."

"Then this is a dinner where you're trying to buy me off?"

"You asked me to dinner so I'd be very bad at seducing you-"

"On the contrary, you've proven very adept at seducing me." John grinned as Anna snorted. "You got me to pay for my own head-hunting dinner."

"Seducing you _away_ from your current position." Anna shook her head at his persistent grin. "I definitely couldn't pay you what you make as a contractor but you've seen our offices and you know what we can do. The good we can do."

"If I say no to your offer, would that ruin dinner?"

"No."

"Then, at this time, I'll have to decline." John flexed his jaw. "I owe Bertie and Henry everything. They went to bat for me when they could've put their careers in jeopardy. They've trusted me to lead them in the field and to abandon them when they've stood by me through thick and thin-"

"Thin and thin more like."

John nodded his concession. "The point is, I couldn't accept your offer. Not until I've paid back that debt I owe them. The debt I owe Black Mountain. And definitely not before we've ended Evergreen for good and proper."

"And I respect that." Anna raised her glass and John put his hand around his water. "To the offer open for the time when you're ready to consider a change of occupation, if you still want to think that way."

"We all need a retirement plan." John clinked his glass against hers. "But, for the moment, I want to concentrate on dinner with you where we can discuss all the little things we've never talked about."

"Such as?" Anna took another sip before setting down her glass and leaning back in her chair.

"What's your favorite color?"

Anna laughed.

Dinner continued, the two of them enjoying an evening of food without discussing the case, death, or any of the other things that swirled and ebbed at the back of their minds. They stayed at the back of their minds, blissfully ignored for their evening as they chatted, laughed, and edged toward tears in their discussions of their lives, their passions, their pursuits, and all the little things they forgot in the course of their mutual adventure. All the little things, as John put it, they never talked about before.

And when dinner was over, the check paid, and they walked out to the car together, Anna gripped John's hand tightly to bring his ear to her lips. "I'd still like a go in that car, if you're interested."

"I do hope you're not asking that rhetorically." Anna shook her head and John clacked his teeth together a moment. "It'd… We'd have to be careful. It's Bertie's car and I don't want to leave a mess if-"

"We'll be careful." Anna moved so her body stood perpendicular to his. The arm closest to her was crooked to hold her hand at his elbow so she reached her other hand over to take his wrist and guide his free hand toward her waist. It slipped and she noted the pulse of his blood when it brushed over her core. "And, maybe later, I'll let you peel me out of this dress with your teeth."

"You're the worst."

"I'd say I was sorry," Anna drew back, the leer painted over her face. "But I'm really not in the slightest."

The valet came with the car and Anna took John's hand so he could lead her around it and shut her door for her. As he rounded the car she sighed her gratitude for tinted windows and worked her dress up her legs so the front of it rucked at her waist but the longer back was between her and the seat. John opened his door and got in, the key ready to turn, before he noticed. She only smiled, sucked one of her fingers into her mouth, and then moved it between her legs.

John's foot hit the pedal and they raced away.

Where before he only edged the limit, testing the car, now he gunned the engine and wove through the streets like a madman. Anna tugged her seatbelt once, just for safety, and continued her taunts with her finger moving over the fabric of her thong. John's veins stood out on his neck and the tendons tightened whenever she allowed her breath to hitch slightly. But his knuckles whitened when she pulled the gusset of her thong aside to finally bring her finger to skin.

That drove John almost over the edge. He swerved the car quickly into an alley off the river, mindless of the space or the possible bump of the undercarriage and stopped it as safely as he could before leaning over the gearbox to take Anna's lips with his. Her free hand held along his jaw as his more furiously moving hands simply struggled with his buckle.

"John," She paused him, licking over his bottom lip. "Backseat."

They met in the backseat, Anna immediately taking the edge of the seat before John pressed her backward. Her dress hiked up and her thong pulled to the side before he thrust forward. John groaned near her ear for a moment before kissing where her jaw met her cheek. "Have to hurry. I don't want to get arrested for indecent exposure."

"I'd hate to lose you to prison again." Anna pulled his mouth up to kiss him, moaning into it as he continued moving. "But we'd have conjugal visits."

"No." John thrust harder, forcing Anna's feet to notch her heels in the grooves of the door. "I'm not having someone run their hands over you for cavity checks."

"Possessive type?"

"Very." John took her mouth again, his tongue sweeping and wrapping hers. "But you could write me."

"They'd not be reading for children."

"We're not children."

"Thank goodness." Anna lifted her hips, grinding against him. "No teenager I know could do what you do."

"I couldn't do this as a teenager." John worked his fingers between them, the knock of his knuckles against his belt buckle loud in Anna's ears. "I'm much better at it now, trust me."

"Thank whatever god you believe in for that." Anna took his lips back and help them between kisses until they both came in a rush.

Sagging together, his arm on the seat barely keeping him from collapsing on her. The heat of his breath wafted over her exposed skin as John brushed hair from her forehead. "You think this'll ever stop?"

Anna raised an eyebrow and snorted, swatting at him with the palm of her hand. "Do you want it to?"

"No, but-"

"Oh," Anna winced, laughing, "No good comment ever came from a definitive statement punctuated quickly with a negative conjunction."

"I'm just not sure it's healthy." John reached into his pocket for a handkerchief and wiped over them both before kissing Anna between her legs. He restored her thong and himself before helping her out of the back of the car. "Can't be great for my blood pressure anyway."

"It's a workout."

"More times a day than I think your birth control regimen's suited to handle."

Anna leaned on her door, running a finger up his tie before tucking it back into his rumpled waistcoat. "Maybe, when we're not always hopped up on adrenaline, our blood'll get calmer and we'll do it less."

"Do you want that?"

"You're the one who asked." Anna grinned and kissed him gently, "And no. I happen to like what I get to do with you."

"Really?"

"You follow instructions very well."

"I was a soldier."

"True." Anna curled her fingers into his waistcoat to pull him forward so she could whisper to him. "Then, soldier, get me back to mine so you can use your teeth on this dress or it's staying on all night."

John shook his head and turned the car back on, pulling out of the alley and following the river to get them back to the main road. "I'm sure I could find a way to entice you out of it under similar circumstances."

"I distinctly remember teeth being promised and I-" Anna flung out her arm as lights glared brighter in John's window, not stopping. "John!"

They barely braced for impact before the car skidded from the road, broke the barrier and hit the river on its side. Anna knocked against the side of the car, her belt barely holding her from falling toward John. She turned to him, the lights in the car darkening as it sunk, and noted his closed eyes. Her hand slapped out and caught him below the ear to snap him awake.

He flailed against his seatbelt and held his head a moment before reaching out for Anna. "I need you to be calm and breathe slowly."

"Why?"

"Because we've got to wait for the car to fill up." John nodded to his side and Anna noted the water now leaking through all the doors. "We can't open the doors because of the pressure."

"What about mine?" Anna pushed against it before realizing it'd caved toward her from the force of the hit and the metal warped. "One of Bertie's upgrades to this thing?"

"It forms a shell around you." John checked over himself, his suit two-different colors now as water soaked him. "That's why neither of us are injured."

"How do we get out?"

"The doors are automatically locked but…" John pointed to Anna's shoe. "How sharp is the heel on that?"

"Sharp enough."

"Take it off and aim for the top of your window."

"Which top?"

"The highest corner near the door. It's where the glass is weakest." John shrugged, "It should, in theory, crack and let us out."

Anna managed to grab her shoe and eased it off her foot, aiming for the glass. "I never asked, during that call this morning, was Charles hurt?"

"What?"

"Charles. Bertie, when he called, said he and Talbot were in Hong Kong," Anna bashed at the window with all the angle she could gain on the window but it did not even crack. "From what I gathered of the call it was because someone tried to hurt Charles and I want to know he's alright."

"You're asking now?"

"I got preoccupied this morning and now, when I could possibly drown, I want to know." Anna tried to crack the glass again but fumbled her shoe and it hit John, splashing in the water. "Sorry."

"He's fine. They've got him taken care of." John reached toward her, hitting the window with concentrated strikes that did nothing. "Explains why the glass didn't break on impact."

"And he didn't invent an escape hatch for this thing?" Anna angled her head to keep it above water. "Drowning wasn't the way I wanted to go."

"Me either." John kicked in the water and hit the windshield. It groaned and they both stopped. He turned to her and Anna got out of her seatbelt before kicking off her other shoe to plant both feet on the windshield. "Kick on three and aim for the middle. Weakest point."

"Right." Anna held the back of her seat to give her the friction she needed to strike hard. "See you on the other side."

John nodded, taking a final breath, and ducked under the water to grab his seat as well. Anna managed her last breath and kicked with John. Their feet thumped against the glass, driving it loose from its hold, and just when Anna saw black at the corners of her vision, it bent outward and gave. John's hand closed around hers and drew her through the opening. They kicked to the surface and broke through to gasp for breath.

Anna treaded water, blinking the black spots from her eyes along with the water and looked below them to where the headlights of the car finally flickered out. "We owe Bertie a new car."

"I think he'll care about it more when he finds out who drove it into the river." John grimaced, "We need to get out of this before we become radioactive."

They swam with the current to one of the maintenance ladders and Anna hauled herself up it, shivering in the chill as her sopping dress stuck to her and her bare feet went on tiptoe to avoid the cold pavement. "Not much better really."

"Better than drowning." John joined her, removing his soaked coat to wrap over her and withdrawing his phone.

"That can't possibly work."

John winked at her, "Henry built it so it'd have to be pulverized with a tank to even crack it." He dialed a number, "We'll be back at yours in no time."

The cab driver asked them no questions but stared at them throughout the drive. Anna ignored him, drumming her fingers against her cheek as it sat on her palm. John reached over and touched her shoulder through his jacket and she jumped a moment at the contact. Her hand took his and squeezed before returning to stare out the window.

When they reached her building, John paying for the ride, and took the lift up to her floor, Anna finally spoke. "If this sounds too ridiculous you can make me a tinfoil hat but I think whatever hit us was operated by someone from Evergreen."

"You think so?"

Anna nodded. "Think about it, Bertie's car is special. I'd hazard there aren't many of them in private ownership."

"Okay." John removed his tie, hanging it over the back of a chair before working off his soaked and ruined shoes. "Then they're targeting Bertie."

"Unless they've been watching my house." John froze, standing quickly and going to her windows. "You won't see them from here."

"But if they're watching you then-"

"Then they've been watching me all along." Anna shrugged, "I never moved flats. This is the address listed on my employment form when I was a silk. That means Carlisle gave them the information."

"And probably about my safe house too."

Anna nodded, "That means they saw us in that car. They tracked Bertie here, probably from your safe house, and then watched us in the car."

John made a face, "The idea that they saw us-"

"En flagrante delecto?" Anna snorted, "I hope they enjoyed it even half as much as I did. That was art, in my opinion."

"But they could-"

"If they pushed us into the river they didn't expect us to survive." Anna blew a breath out slowly. "And if they know we survived they're not getting into the building anyway. It's more protected than your safehouse."

"Unless they get a helicopter."

"With all the proper forms not to get shot down by the Met or flagged or anything else?" Anna waited, "And they've have to mount rockets on that thing to make a difference. Knocking us into the river, not subtle but very little collateral damage. Blowing up a flat in a high rise like this, that's war."

"They're terrorists."

"But they're not stupid. That would be stupid." Anna put a hand to her hair and then stopped. "I need to shower before I catch a disease from which I'll never recover or find something growing on me."

"Not in you?"

Anna looked back at John over her shoulder, managing a grin. "If something's growing in me, Captain, then it's a hundred percent yours."

She was barely in the bathroom five minutes, trying to pull the last of the pins from her hair, when John joined her. The sight of his naked body in the mirror stopped her and his hands moving hers to hold the counter kept her still. "I did promise something about my teeth and this dress."

"It's covered in river scum."

"I'll brush my teeth thoroughly." John kissed over her shoulders moving her hanging hair over one of them as he removed the straps of her dress with his teeth. "Maybe wash out my mouth with bleach. Or just start a severe Listerine regimen that'll leave me minty fresh, always and forever."

"I wouldn't mind that." Anna flicked her eyes toward the shower in the mirror, catching John's gaze. "The last time we used that shower it ended decidedly differently."

"That was only yesterday."

"What lives we lead." Anna hissed as John's lips traced her spine, his fingers dragging her dress down to expose her breasts and thong. "They'd be quieter if you worked for me."

"Who's seducing whom here?" John teased, biting at the flesh of her ass so Anna writhed against him. "Just enjoy the moment."

"I'm disgusting."

"You won't be." John's teeth found the string of her thong and tugged it down her legs to leave her as naked as him. "Soon we'll both be clean."

He led her to the shower and Anna felt a moment of déjà vu. But this time she was fully engaged. Engaged in kissing him, holding him, and grinding against him until he went on his knees before her. She spread her legs as he soaped her loofah to scrub over her until an edge of red tinged her skin.

Stealing the object, Anna lathered it again before doing the same to John. Her special care and attention to his erection was not unnoticed and they rinsed quickly before his hands massaged shampoo and conditioner into her hair. His own hair took a soaping and soon the suds drained through the grate on the floor to leave them fresh and clean.

But John's attentions did not end there. Unlike the last night, where his concern was her health, his concern now was her pleasure. Pleasure he saw to when he went back to his knees and buried his head between her legs. Anna gripped into his wet hair, struggling for a grip when his tongue mercilessly ran through her folds, drove inside her, and then sucked hard at her clit. She broke under the chilling spray and tried to urge John up but her hands, by comparison, had no strength.

He rose on his own, taking her thighs in his grip and pressing her shoulders and back against the wall to haul her up. They crashed their mouths together as John brought them together. Slipping and sliding slightly but losing little momentum, John drove into Anna while she laid her lines of kisses over his neck, cheeks, shoulders, and collarbones under the cooling spray. It almost blinded her but she ignored it to try and express her affection the way he did. But she could only match his grip with nails in his forearms when she came again. And he matched it with his own finish.

Rising quickly in the chill water, they bundled into towels and cared for their ruined clothes. But where John quickly fell asleep, his arm over her stomach and their bodies close enough that she never forgot their naked state, Anna could not find sleep. Closing her eyes brought no comfort and all she could do was stare up at her ceiling. Even that only made her eyes ache with grit and tiredness until Anna slipped from John's hold.

She wrapped herself in one of his old shirts, laying over a chair, and paced the room. Her bare feet did not disturb John with their padding but it only made her body ache more. Taking the chair by the window, Anna stared out at the city until her eyes grew more tired but not heavy. Her forehead rested on the window, eyes closed, and she tried to breathe herself into relaxation but nothing brought on the kind of peaceful tiredness she needed to actually sleep. All her mind could do was replay everything over and over and over again until she forced herself to her feet and pace in front of the window as John had that morning.

One of the many lifetimes ago.

Gray tinged the horizon and Anna stopped, snorting quietly to herself at the night wasted in making herself exhausted but not tired for sleep, and turned at the sound of a grunt from the bed. John's arm flailed to find Anna and he turned over his shoulder to see her at the window.

"Wearing my clothes now?"

"It was available." Anna winked at him, "I couldn't stride naked around my room. It might give you ideas."

She turned back to the window, watching the sunrise as John's presence came behind her. His arms wrapped around her middle, holding her to him so his chest stretched along her back. "What's bothering you?"

"My mind won't sleep so I can't sleep."

His chin rested on her shoulder, giving her a brief kiss on the neck. "It all just runs through your mind doesn't it. Your body doesn't know what to do with everything and you're just living it over and over again until your brain understands but it doesn't realize that it'll never understand."

"You're well versed in this."

"I've experienced extreme trauma before." John's soft voice had Anna stiffening slightly. "I know what happens to a person."

"How'd you solve it?" Anna tried to laugh but it caught in her throat. "You slept like a baby."

"I was not up every two hours crying." John teased her, kissing at her cheek this time before hugging her a bit tighter. "I've just… My mind's just used to it now in a way I hope yours never is."

"If it never lets me sleep again-"

"You will." John soothed, his hands moving over her, "I just didn't do what you needed to sleep."

"Didn't you?"

"No." John eased over her, his breathing steadying the uneven pattern of her own until they sighed and moved together while his hands stroked her abdomen, her thighs, up to her breasts, and tempted between her legs. "That was all quick and adrenaline-filled. It only built up the tension in your body. You've just got to dissipate it so you can relax all these muscles."

"You could try a massage."

"Then I'd just be over you, my dick rubbing over her ass until it got harder for you than it already is, and we'd have hard, fast sex." Anna smiled as he shook his head against her, kissing her shoulders through his shirt while his hands continued their slow adoration of her body. "Not what you need right now."

"And what do I need?" Anna angled her head to see him. "More sex?"

"Just differently." John eased one hand between her legs but maintained his slow pace, the other hand caressing her breasts under the shirt. "Trust me."

"I do." Anna sighed back against him, the knots in her body slowly loosening as his fingers guided her from pleasure to slow pleasure. "Please don't stop."

"I won't stop until you're so tired you'll fall asleep in my arms and I can tuck you into bed." John's palm pressed on her clit but only used the pressure as a lever for his fingers to continue their work inside her. "You need rest, Anna. You'll never heal if you're not sleeping."

"I know." Anna could barely manage a whisper, her body sagging almost boneless in his grasp. "Keep going."

"I am."

"No," Anna shook her head. "Keep talking to me."

"I want to be here when you go to sleep at night." His hand left his massage of her breasts, his other fingers delving even deeper inside of her. "I want to be here when you wake up in the mornings. I want to make sure you're safe and rested and protected and happy."

Anna leaned forward, her hands on the window as John lifted the back of the shirt to allow his arousal to run over her. "What else?"

"I want to be with you Anna. Not just until the case is over or until we catch the bastards or until we finally get ourselves out of this mess." His breath was heated against her ear as she rolled to the tingling satisfaction of the gentle climax his fingers brought on before withdrawing from her still flexing inner muscles. "I want to be with you forever, Anna. However, whatever, whenever. You and me, for good and proper."

"I want that too." Anna rubbed back against him, "Please take me John."

He thrust forward but unlike their morning or the car or the shower, this was slow. Methodical strokes and drives meant to excite but tame. A gentle fire burning away her tension to leave her sated and relaxed instead of strung and vibrating. This would leave her quivering but not quaking. And when she came again, under his gentle and carefully constructed ministrations, Anna's eyes closed with a desire for sleep. A desire his release fed as her body took the last of her climax to feed his. All of it intertwining to leave her satisfied and sagging.

John held her against him, the shirt still between them, and picked her up. Her arms hung loose over his neck and he maneuvered them delicately back onto the bed. The pillow held her like a cloud instead of mud and Anna sank into it as John laid down beside her. She managed to intertwine their fingers and tugged him closer until the smell of his wafted from both his shirt and his presence.

"Thank you." She mumbled, already half asleep even as light threatened on the horizon. "Thank you for this."

"You never have to thank me for anything." His fingers glided through her hair, the gentle tugs on her scalp relaxing her further. "Go to sleep and I'll be here when you wake up."

So she did.


	19. State's Witness

John blinked, the light from the window reflecting off the far wall to lighten behind his eyelids, and he carefully turned over his shoulder to take it in. He settled back into the pillow, careful to keep his shoulder where it was to block the sun from Anna's face, and watched her sleep. The steady, smooth rise and fall of her chest under his shirt gave him a smile.

When the sun moved a bit more, leaving him free to stop acting as a window shade, John shifted in bed. His hand brushed at Anna's exposed legs and his breath caught when he noted the dampness there. Gliding a finger up the smooth expanse of skin, her legs separating automatically in her sleep, John bit his lip at the idea forming in his mind.

Moving carefully over the bed, John draped himself perpendicularly across the surface and carefully dragged his tongue over her skin. She whimpered in her sleep but did not move. John angled himself to do it again, on the other leg, and this time Anna let out a keening sound, her fingers grabbing for the pillow under her head but her face still holding the throes of sleep. With a swift maneuver, John worked her legs far enough apart to settle between them and continue the track up the insides of her legs with his lips and tongue.

With his careful maintenance of pace and speed, Anna did not wake. John even tentatively spread the flat of his tongue in a broad sweep over her damp folds but she did no more than whimper. He paused, savoring the taste of her, the barest hint of him edging the flavor like a pinch of spice, and went back for more. The goal was to wake her, eventually, but the moments he had with her asleep and open to him were not to be ignored or wasted.

He wanted to wrap his fingers around her thighs, bend her legs back toward her body and spread them wide so he could get his mouth over everything, leave her writhing and sobbing out however many releases he could manage before he needed to breathe and she needed to hydrate. But he knew the hard path. He knew the fiery press they brought out in one another when they raced to the finish as swiftly and loudly as they could. What John wanted, he realized as another broad stroke of his tongue, was to bring her over the edge excruciatingly slowly. That slow seduction where a person came completely out of themselves and remained only as a quivering mass of nerves only capable of comprehending pleasure.

With as much adrenaline as his body produced in the last few days and with all the tension constantly cramping his muscles, John wanted nothing but to comprehend pleasure. To allow Anna the same. Even after last night's "massage", he knew there was more to be had. More careful contentment to be found after the body spent all the energy hiding away in the primal brain.

The point of his tongue separated her folds and tempted toward her entrance. Her legs flexed around him and John flicked his eyes up her body to watch the lines form on her forehead and then slight scrunch to her face as her mind tried to put together the elements it only comprehended on the periphery of sleep. Those crucial details breaking through to confirm it was no erotic dream but an event, in the flesh, for her to enjoy. And while her body reacted first, Anna's mind followed soon after and her eyes flew open when John finally entered her with his tongue.

Her screech echoed around the room, bouncing through the barrier of blood beating in John's ears as he finally brought his fingers to her skin. They caressed with all the delicate tactics of someone handling a butterfly. Sweeping, soft touches reminiscent of his care over her thighs with his tongue. But as he brought his fingers closer to where his tongue already labored diligently to bring her out of herself, John met Anna's eyes.

The rise and fall of her chest betrayed the huffing breaths she allowed to escape her mouth but did not interrupt her focus. John watched the bend in her elbows, her eyes still on him, to grab the pillow and the headboard behind her. Skin rasped against skin when her legs bent toward her body and spread just as John imagined his fingers on her legs would do but his hands only stayed still. And during the act of submission to his quest to find her pleasure, Anna never broke eye contact. She only blinked when she settled into position as if to tell him, 'please continue and do what you will'.

John had no intention of betraying that desire.

He suckled on her folds, wrapping his lips around them as if he was kissing her mouth. Darting with his tongue, John speared through them, again and again, until Anna's hips rolled toward him in anticipation of the maneuvers. But when she tried to guess his trajectory and counter it, John drew back and enticed more moans from her with the combination of surprise and pleasure. The evolving game left John digging his hips into the mattress in an attempt to relieve the pressure of a growing erection he dared not touch before they were ready and Anna's body arching off the bed while her hips gyrated and jerked.

But all things must end and when John's lips wrapped around Anna's clit, she broke. Her body spasmed and stuttered while her quivering legs moved around John. He ran the flats of his hands over them, his palms working in circles to relax her muscles and bring her down from the high he still licked from his lips.

Again, the rise and fall of her chest caught his attention and John leaned himself over to trace kisses from the clit he so barely surrendered to her abdomen. The vague sensation of her fingers digging into his hair soothed as John's licks and kisses mimicked his earlier gentle guide to climax. A trigger that relaxed them both into softer motions so their mouths met in a slow dance instead of a fierce battle for dominance. There was nothing to be won but all to be gained and they sought it together with their drugging kisses.

Almost as if he developed the sensitivity of a cat, Anna's petting hands through John's hair brought him to relax into their kisses. Relax so much so that his weight settled onto Anna but her legs spread to accept his hips and the sigh into his mouth only bid him continue. They glided and writhed against one another as if in slow motion, with nothing to hurry them despite the wet residue of Anna's morning climax spreading and soaking over John's arousal as it bumped and slipped between her folds. Sensations that only deepened their kisses and brought their bodies closer to hold one another tighter.

John kept his hands from Anna, giving one last hold from her hips to her waist to a massage regimen at her breasts before spreading his hands into the sheets as if he wanted to do a pushup above her. And when he rose above her, breaking their kiss, Anna's forehead lined again. But John kissed each of the lines away with dedicated kisses in time with the directed invasion he instigated between her legs as he used the leverage from his hands to guide his erection between her folds and drag up and down until Anna tipped her hips. In a moment, with groans that mingled and mixed in the air like their scents and their sweat, John thrust forward and held there.

In another circumstance he might have assumed that Anna would work her hips to speed up their interaction but, like the night… was it really only two days ago… where they remembered Downton Primary, they maintained their slow pace. Light filling the room or the distant realization the world waited for them outside did nothing to hurry them. As far as they were concerned, time stopped and they were the only two people in the world.

One concession John realized he made only after he found himself on his back on her bed, was Anna taking control. Her hand on his chest only pressed once to urge him back and he moved a hand to her hip to hold them together as they moved. Despite the thought, as wonderful it felt to remained buried inside of her, Anna's adjustment of their position sent him even deeper when she twisted to get comfortable astride him.

Her hands pressed, palms hard, into his chest and John arched his back at the inadvertent chest massages Anna's expression of pleasure evoked. His eyes flickered, noting how her fingers curled toward her palms and her mouth opened in a beautiful 'O' shape for a moment as her eyes scrunched shut to memorize the moment of intense pleasure, and his hands settled on her hips. Whether it grounded her or him he could not tell but the comfort of her skin under his was all he needed when she proceeded a rolling motion and continually rocked them together.

The slow rise and fall of her legs drew him to the edge before swallowing him with slick, wet sounds that brought all the hairs on John's arms standing on end. He brought his hands around to hold at her ass, as if digging into the flesh there would ground him more than her nails gouging divots in his chest. Whatever it was, Anna's hitched breathing brought John's attention back to her.

Slowing her pace as she sank down on him again, had John smiling a little. A rub on her thighs eased the burn enough for her to sigh in contentment at it and bend over enough to bring their lips together. John's grin deepened when Anna moaned into his mouth and he wondered if she found a hidden trace of her taste there. A taste he never tired of having all over his tongue.

But the kiss broke when one of John's hands remained at her thigh, holding tightly there while the other returned to his secure position on her ass, and bucked his hips into hers. The slow ride did not stop, only changed. Anna's eyes went wide and she held his as she regained control to grind into the thrusts of his hips so John's teeth grit hard enough to crack his jaw at the raw, jagged strikes of lightning pleasure burning his blood. She did not look away as one of her hands surrendered the secure hold on his chest to bring between them and rub over herself until her eyes rolled back into her head.

The rippling cling of her walls, response to her second orgasm of the morning, triggered John's race to the finish. His fingers struggled not to dig deep enough to reach bone as he increased the depth and force of his thrusts. But not the speed. And when Anna's fingers slipped over him, whether on purpose or accident was rather academic at that point, John released all control. His release rolled through him and perpetuated the final dregs of Anna's pleasure to urge a final, smaller, climax from her as they settled together.

John ran his fingers through Anna's hair, spread over her back as she spread over him, and simply was. Thought were irrelevant. Existence extended no further than the bed where he lay and the woman who lay on top of him.

However much he wanted that to remain true, Anna eventually pushed herself off his chest and carefully extricated herself from him. She smiled, kissing him slowly, and maneuvered off the bed. "We've got a meeting at start of business."

"That's not a specific term."

"After last night I'll bet they're already waiting at the front doors and either tapping on their watches or tapping their badges against the glass." Anna walked to her closet, opening it without looking back so John had an unhindered view of her body. "And they'll-"

She paused, looking over her shoulder. "Were you just looking at my ass?"

"No."

"No?"

"I was looking at all of you." John swung his legs over the side of the bed, collecting his spread of clothes to see what he could scrounge from the bits and pieces he left at hers. "So, technically, I was looking at your ass but I'll take anywhere from shoulders to ankles. I'm not picky."

"You were staring at me."

"Says the woman who enticed me back to bed yesterday morning to give me head while I was on the phone." John taunted, kissing her over the arm that still held her closet door open. "Not sure you can judge."

"You're the one who distracted me on no less than two phone calls." Anna held up the fingers as if John would not understand the significance of the numbers without visual aids. "You're obviously the worse of the two of us."

"Or I'm just doing this for your body."

"If we're making confessions about motivations," Anna teethed her lip and John froze for a second before realizing Anna's eyes flicked downward. "I only helped you so I could get a closer look at you naked and… And I'm completely infatuated with the sight of your naked ass, your chest, and you've got a well-sized penis so I can't help myself when-"

John kissed over her comments, pressing her against the open door of the closet and holding himself as close to her as he could. But just as her leg raised to wrap over his hip, Anna's phone rang. He tried to ignore it, urging her focus to his lips and determined hold on her body, but Anna broke the kiss. She gave him a sad smile, a quick kiss to sate him, and then dodged around him to retrieve her phone.

He could only sigh, find clothes, and hurry to her shower.

Just as Anna predicted, when they parked in the underground garage for the building, Mary and Branson already waited for them. Both leaned impatiently against the wall outside the lifts, eyeing John and Anna as they approached as if they were the possible suspects in a recent crime. A thought, John wondered, if he could ever escape after his adventures with the Justice System.

"I thought 'start of business' meant the hours embossed on your doors."

"Good morning to you too Mary." Anna smiled, pulling out a keycard to swipe through the slider next to the lifts. She urged Mary and Branson to join them as the doors opened. "I had a late morning. I'm sure you understand."

"Being married I-" Branson went to say but Mary cut him off.

"It's not a joke when we're here to discuss the suicide of a man who orchestrated an entire legal case to frame Captain Bates here." Mary glanced at John. "They've found the exonerating evidence, by the way. Judge Crawley ruled the case this morning. You're innocent and the Crown's even trying to work out a compensation plan, for the time and efforts they've wasted potentially damaging your career prospects."

"I'm touched by their concern to cover their own asses but I think my employment options are removed from the… Misfortunes of this event." John winked at Anna, who only snorted. "I'm more curious what you've got connecting Carlisle to Evergreen."

"We've got answers to that… sort of." Branson flexed his jaw, as if working the words inside before letting them out so they did not carry the disappointment so evident on Branson's face.

"What's 'sort of' mean?" Anna turned to look at Branson but the doors opened before she could continue her visual interrogation. John gave a little smile as she managed the dismount from the lift backward to keep the hints of a growing scowl focused on Branson. "He as good as told me that's what he had. That's what he was. He told me right before he-"

"Perhaps," Mary pointed to the conference room and nodded toward it, her eyes acting as indicators of those in the office partially paralyzed by their presence. Anna followed the suggestion and the four of them filed into the conference room. "This is a bit more private."

"And bug free, as Captain Bates's friends are constantly assuring me." Anna took a seat at the head of the large glass table, with John on her right and Mary and Branson facing him. Mary sat closest to Anna. "What didn't Carlisle have on his computers and in his files that his deathbed confession said he did?"

"That's the thing," Mary opened her hand to Anna. "We don't even know what he told you. Your first statement, to the constable first on the scene, was fine but after that you were catatonic so I'm not sure what you think we know at this point."

"It is why you're here." Anna interlaced her fingers, her shoulders rolling back to bring her posture straighter as if she gained energy from the room. A room built to emphasize her power in the company she built. A haven from which she drew strength to do daily battle. "Where do I begin?"

Mary pulled out a recorder, setting it on the table in front of Anna. "With your name, today's date, and where you were when the incident occurred."

Anna told them about the meeting Carlisle called to arrange, leaving out the details of the call itself as John was grateful to hear. She told them about Carlisle's offer of a deal outside John's safehouse and the oddity of it given his earlier insistence on no deals at all and especially not any that favored John. And when the story left John outside Carlisle's office again, John perked up his ears to listen more closely.

"So you went into the office alone?"

Anna nodded, "Yes. I had nothing to fear from Mr. Carlisle's office. When I was a silk I was in there all time. He was my boss."

"But you never had a good relationship."

"I stabbed the man with a letter opener once when he thought his position could give him a sexual advantage over me and I don't regret it." Anna sighed, "He never pressed charges or tried to fire me because I think he wanted to keep it all quiet but for as much as I disliked him, I didn't fear him."

"Then what happened?"

"I sat on the other side of his desk but his back was toward me and when he turned his chair around he held a gun." Anna shivered and John reached out a hand to cover hers. Her fingers maneuvered to stroke the underside of his hand but she did not move from his grasp. John noted the way Mary's eyes narrowed and the slight widening of Branson's but he did not move. "I thought he was going to shoot me. And, maybe the most ridiculous part, was that he wasn't going to get away with it if he did so why try?"

"Then what?"

"He monologued for a minute, I think to try and talk his way out of his actions or maybe into them, I don't know." Anna sighed, "We discussed why he aligned with Evergreen and-"

"Did he explicitly say he was involved with Evergreen?"

Anna thought a moment and then opened her mouth, "It was more like when I questioned him on the stand the day before. I think you should get ahold of that transcript for how it all went down, but he told me that he was desperate after he botched those gang murders a few years ago and then that incident with the Russian agent who was working as a pub owner and died in prison."

"He did cock it all up with those." Branson clicked his teeth, "I had a friend who knew the DI who quit the force after how that case broke him."

"I asked him if that was why he turned to Evergreen and he told me the government was done using them so he thought he could."

Mary paused, her pencil scraping against the page in her hand as if she accidently drew the end of a letter too long in her sudden surprise. "How'd he know that the government had used them in the first place?" She lowered her voice, speaking to Anna, "Our mutual friend?"

"He wouldn't but there were others in his division that might've seen to it." Anna shrugged, "I don't know how he knew but he did and they worked for him but he failed them when his affair with Mrs. Bates got her aware of their existence."

"If you decide to be ghosts then you can't very well come collecting your checks in person." Branson griped and then gave Mary a face when she tried to scowl at him. "I've got secret friends who know a thing or two as well."

"What else did Carlisle say?" Mary turned back to Anna, "Anything else about the case or Evergreen or-"

"He said they wanted Mrs. Bates eliminated and he chose her instead of him, which was the threat."

"The strength of self-preservation." Mary made another note, flipping over the page to continue notating in shorthand to write faster. "And he said this?"

Anna nodded again, "He implied it. He said it with either him or Vera so…"

"Fill in the blank, I hate those questions." Mary sighed, "But a wink's as good as a nod and since he was still walking around and she's not, we can safely assume his choice."

"He said he regretted it, thought maybe he just should've died there and been a hero instead of trying to get around it."

"And I'm sure the poor bastard only felt guilty because he realized that instead of saving his career by getting into bed with terrorists and killers, he royally buggered himself to the point where the bravest thing he could do was shoot himself in the head." Branson ground his teeth, "Bastard."

"He's one for the shit heap, no doubt about it." John raised his shoulder in a shrug of solidarity with Branson before turning to Anna. "Was there anything else?"

"If you're wondering if he told me where he kept the goose that laid golden eggs no." Anna sat back in her chair, the armor for the conversation falling away now that her confession was over. "He just whinged about the situation and his own failure to achieve the power he wanted from it."

"Imagine that, being surprised when the tiger whose tail you pulled decided to bite you in the ass." Mary finished her notes and folded them into her pocket. "But we searched his office and there wasn't anything. No record of his dealings with Evergreen. Not even a scrap of paper with a tree on it or something equally ridiculous but befitting a movie version of events."

John sucked the inside of his cheek a moment before speaking, "Did it occur to anyone else, in the most tinfoil hat appropriate suggestion, that Carlisle wasn't the only one in his office working with Evergreen?"

All eyes fell on him but Mary spoke. "What's your evidence?"

"If Vera noticed them and told Mrs. Bartlett about it, then who else noticed them? A group of paramilitary men entering the office of the Crown Prosecutor's going to get noticed no matter how many security cameras you turn off or people you bribe. Someone you can't control's going to work late or forget something or have an illicit office tryst of their own and they'll see something. There's no way not to in an environment like that."

"A secret is best kept between three people if two of them are dead kind of thing?" Branson prompted and John nodded.

"Vera was a conniving, intelligent woman and she put it together. She gave that information to Angela Bartlett and it got her killed."

"Tortured first." Mary held up a finger, "Let's not forget they wanted information from her."

"After she fed us a corrupted drive to steal information from our systems." Anna turned to John, "The hack. That was Evergreen sniffing around what they thought I might know. Getting their bearings on us."

"And probably how they got the address for your house and mine." John groaned, "I should've seen this."

"We thought your case was a frame job from the man sleeping with your wife." Anna put her hand over his this time, rubbing over the skin with her thumb. "How were we to know it was so he could hide a conspiracy?"

"I preferred it when he was just trying to get around the ethical ramifications of banging my wife while I wasn't looking."

"Me too." Branson grumbled and then held up his hands, "I'm know, it's not about me but I wish it was as simple as we thought when it got handed to us like a flaming shit."

"When was the last time you handled flaming shit?" Mary turned over her shoulder to Branson and he shuddered.

"I'm a two-year-old that once ate some Mexican food that did not agree with her in the slightest. I'm sure you know what a nappy blowout is."

Mary swallowed, "We'll table that conversation for a later date. As in never."

"Fine by me." Branson moved in his chair, addressing John. "Whose on your list of potential conspirators?"

"Tom!"

"It's not going to hurt to do a little digging." Branson defended and moved to face Mary. "The evidence is there and we need to find it. It didn't die with Carlisle. The man was a prick and I hated him but he was also meticulous. Guy like that's not entering into a deal with Devil unless he's got forms signed in triplicate and photocopied so he's got his own version held in a vault somewhere."

"If it's in a vault then we're shit out of luck, aren't we?"

"Maybe it's held in a different kind of vault." Anna drummed her fingers on the table, barely noticing the presence of the other three people at the table. "Perhaps it's about where it's stored on a server."

"Government servers are notorious for being low security and badly maintained." John picked up anna's train of thought, "It's possible that they hid it in all the irrelevant data from numerous downloads, upgrades, and behind the bad operating systems they have to use since there's never room in the budget for something faster than a dial up program."

"In that case," Mary brought their focus back to her. "We'd like to extend an offer to Black Mountain for your cyber security services."

"You're hiring me?" John almost laughed, "After what just happened?"

"The Crown's willing to extend this as an olive branch, of sorts."

"And hope I don't turn around and bugger them with it?"

Mary cringed, "I wouldn't use that kind of language but there are benefits to accepting this offer."

"Such as?"

"Protective custody to keep you and Anna safe until Evergreen's been dismantled." Branson suggested and John made a face. "It's something one offers to those being hired to works as contractors for the Crown."

"Hard pass." Anna nodded toward John before they noted Mary's face.

"It wasn't a suggestion. You're being placed in protective custody."

John blinked at her, "And you waited until now to tell us, why?"

"Because we're serving as your PPOs," Mary motioned between she and Branson. "And because you didn't divulge, of your own volition, that you had a car shoved in the Thames last night."

"Cause you a bit of trouble when you had to fish it out for us this morning?" John treated Mary's scowl with one of his own. "Don't think I don't have people working on my side too."

"Hence why we need to work together."

"You'll be shackling us."

"No, we're protecting you." Mary turned to Anna, as if reason lie in that direction. "Black Mountain can work out of the basement of John's safehouse and we'll be acting as protection for you and-"

"How do you know what we can do in the basement of John's safe house?" Anna's eyes narrowed and then shut as she nodded, "Talbot."

"That son of a bitch." John went to stand as Talbot ducked into the room. "In a minute you're going to wish you'd stayed in Hong Kong so I don't have a chance to break that nose of yours."

"How very unkind." Talbot took the seat next to Branson, "Bertie was the one who thought it all up. I only arranged it and agreed to their terms so we've got worms in the system locating the information that'll give us all the data on Evergreen. It's a win-win."

"Not for the ones about to be under guard." John ground his teeth, "I left prison for this."

"This isn't prison." Talbot got serious, wagging his finger between John and Anna. "Both of you are compromised. Anna's flat, her building, is compromised. Technically the safe house is compromised but I designed the security system so I feel better taking you there than anywhere else they might try."

"And you'll just force this on us?"

"Who said anything about force?" Talbot opened his arms to John. "This is a good thing, John."

"If you say one more think about-"

"I think it's best that we all take a little time to cool off." Anna put her hand back over John's as if to rein him in. "It's been an eventful few days and we're all a little high strung at this point."

"A little?" Mary dared but cut herself off at Anna's glare. "Right. We'll… we'll stay out of your way in the office and, when the day's over, take you back to the safehouse you've reserved for Captain Bates."

She leaned around Branson to address Talbot. "A safe house I hope you've modified for the increased threat level?"

"It's not like I just tell it to go into battle mode and raise the drawbridge."

Mary rolled her eyes, "Do you have increased security on the place or not?"

"We've made adjustments to the safe house so it'll hold up under anything short of rocket attack." Talbot shuddered, "If they get that far we're well and truly buggered so I hope it doesn't reach that point."

"Us to." Anna muttered and stood up from the table, signaling everyone else to do the same. "Tell us what you have when you've got something."

Without waiting for a response, Anna and John left the room. They headed for her office and she closed the door before anyone else could enter, locking it with significant force, and then lowering all the shades except those that allowed her the view of the city. John waited to the side as she paced the space like a caged animal.

"Don't like being locked up?"

"I was claustrophobic as a child." Anna put her hands on her hips, continuing her determined strides. "Had some… bad experiences with a closet and a very persistent guard."

"Your step-father?"

Anna nodded, pausing to throw her hand toward the door as if that included everyone on the other side of it. "I don't like the accusation that we can't protect ourselves or that their presence will make any difference in the end."

"Then you understand my feelings." John leaned on the back of one of the sofas. "It's just more people in the line of fire, that's all. More people to get harmed, not helped, if they are after us."

"It's just going to complicate things." Anna put a palm to the side of her head before snorting a laugh. "It's ridiculous."

"Which part?"

"That two people as insignificant as ourselves are now the targets of a terrorist group of mad former military personnel once run by the boss that tried to sexually assault me." Anna laughed again, "If I told myself that story in school I would've thought it was the bad pilot episode of a doomed-to-failure television series that wouldn't get a full episode count."

"It is a bit hard to swallow." John made a face, "But if they set up a good foundation with proper justifications I could buy the premise."

"You would?"

"Under the right circumstances." He put his hands back on the sofa, feeling the leather under him. "Feels like a lifetime since we had sex on these sofas."

"As I recall," Anna pointed behind him, "It was that sofa, not the one where you're resting your ass in violation of the patent that tells you the cushions are where you sit, not the back."

"As a lawyer you would know." John let his lips twerk up into the beginnings of a grin. "But since we've not done it on this sofa before…"

"Are you suggesting that the key to our mutual frustration at our change in circumstances will be solved if we have sex on that sofa?"

"Who said anything about solving anything?" John stood up, "I just want to break in this sofa."

"How would you do it?"

John eyed her and then the sofa. "Your ass is smaller than mine so I'd put you on the back and then you wrap your legs around me. I hold you up, whisper inappropriate things in your ear, and you tell me how you've never had better before we both orgasm loud enough that everyone outside that door knows exactly what we're doing in here."

"I see two flaws with that plan." Anna sauntered toward him, her fingers pulling apart the buttons on her blouse.

"And what might those be?"

"First," Anna let the tails of her loose shirt hang to her sides so her fingers could work down the buttons on John's shirt. "If anyone's whispering inappropriate things, it'll be me."

"There are more than enough inappropriate things to go around."

"Second," Anna finished with his shirt and opened his buckle, "I don't share my pleasure with anyone so we're going to have to keep quiet."

"Shy?"

"Protective of what's mine."

John paused, the backs of his fingers just brushing over the bare skin of her abdomen before removing her shirt and letting it drift with his to the cushions of the sofa behind him. "Am I yours, Anna?"

"Yes." She put her lips just over his. "And I am yours."

"Damn right." John brought their lips together and his fingers dragged her hips toward him so she slotted between his open legs.

One of his hands moved to her back, holding her to him as if letting go would threaten the fabric of reality itself. Her arms looped around his neck, belying the speed and ferocity of their kiss, and her body glided against his. When her breath hitched, John broke the kiss and noted the wince Anna tried to hide as the exposed skin of her abdomen dragged along his loose belt buckle. John finished freeing it and snapped the leather free of the loops on his trousers before dropping it to join their shirts. It did not even have time to bounce on the leather before Anna's fingers freed him from his trousers.

Between the two of them, shuffling in what might be an undignified fashion, they dropped their trousers to the floor and followed it with their underwear. In a swift pivot, John lifted Anna to get her onto the back of the sofa as he promised and crowed close so her legs could wrap around his hips for support. He held for a second before moving his fingers between them.

"This will never get old."

"Sneaking around to have sex?"

"Having sex." John corrected, kissing a line of teasing little kisses under Anna's chin while his fingers worked to get her to the edge faster than he might otherwise attempt. "Having it multiple times a day, in multiple places, with multiple different variations on the theme."

"Agreed." Anna seized John's lips again, holding him close so her hips could buck against his fingers. "But we've not got time for this."

One of her hands wrapped around his wrist and wrenched it away. John blinked for a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head while Anna sucked his fingers into her mouth. "Shag me please."

"Gladly."

Unlike their calm morning or even the night before, the moment on the back of Anna's sofa was nothing but heated, flaring passion. A spark of need necessitating release and focus without nuance or flattery. The raw search for climax had them pulling at one another's skin, huffing together to blow hot air over and between their bodies, to add the squeaking creak of the leather sofa to the unforgiving lewdness of the sounds of their bodies coming together, and to search for that high as quickly as they could.

John ran his list of inappropriate suggestions in Anna's ear, most of them geared to rile her up with promises of taking her on the conference table in the glass-walled room or using his hand under a table while they attended an important meeting. But her suggestions were no less provocative with her threat of standing in front of him at any and all functions to rub her ass sufficiently over him so he would never be decent in public again or her temptation to videochat from her office to get herself off in front of him while he could do nothing to help or participate on her end of the call but be forced to helplessly watch.

It got them to the edge but the struggle of their hands between their bodies, brushing and tugging and rubbing furiously at available skin until they both grunted and growled at one another, sent them over. Anna's fingers found their places in John's skin and he dropped his head to her shoulder, sighing as their bodies finished. They stayed still for a few moments until Anna pressed on John's chest.

"We'd better get some work done."

And the theme of the next week of their lives, shuffled around between Anna's work and John's safe house, was spent waiting. Waiting for news on Talbot's inquiries into the system or for any word from the Crown as to what kind of compensation they were offering John. Waiting that ended when Talbot told them the results of the worm's search and John received the terms of negotiation.

They sat on the sofas, both leaning over the table between them as if consulting evidence but there was nothing there. John spoke first, "I think we should sit on it. Meet with them tomorrow."

"Barrow and O'Brien wouldn't be making this offer unless forced. Waiting another day might give them time to rescind it altogether."

"I don't need the money and I sure as hell don't want an apology from them." John pushed himself back so his shoulders hit the leather of the sofa. "The only people whose apologies might've meant a damn to me are six feet under."

"I think Carlisle was cremated."

"Same difference."

Anna raised her hands in surrender, conceding the point. "If we do go tomorrow, we'll have to bring Mary and Branson with us."

"Ah yes, the threat continues." John scrubbed his hands over his face, "What if we just go in there, don't even let them speak, and crush them with what we know?"

"I can appreciate the battle-axe nature of that particular suggestion but Talbot's worm isn't legal."

"So?' John threw an arm toward the window, covering the distance between the office and those of the Crown Prosecution Service in a single throw. "What they did was illegal."

"Two wrongs don't make a right."

"Three lefts do."

Anna laughed, "What would we even say to Barrow and O'Brien?"

"I dunno." John motioned toward Anna. "What about that mind trick think you did with Carlisle so he hoisted himself on his own petard? I liked that move and I'd love to see Barrow and O'Brien just put their foot in it."

"Me too." Anna snorted her laugh this time, losing her words and air for a moment of uncontrolled giggles. "Sorry, I just… I imagine the two of them trying to fight it together before they're reduced to squabbling amongst themselves and all we're left with are two former friends now making the foundation of an epic rivalry that'll give us more than just Evergreen."

"And with CPS three lawyers short…"

"What?" John motioned toward Anna but she shook her head. "Nope."

"Why not?"

"I don't want that job back."

"You'd run the CPS better than Carlisle."

"That's not in question." Anna let out a breath, taking a few more before responding. "My future there died when I stabbed Carlisle. There's nothing for me there and, even if it was for a raise and better attention and government work or whatever, I want nothing to do with them. They're not for me anymore because I can't do the good I want to do there."

"It was just a suggestion."

"And I'm grateful for it." Anna reached over the table, taking John's hand. "It's… It's special to have someone who supports you. I've not… I've not had that much in my life and I'm ever so grateful I've got it with you."

John kissed the back of her hand, smiling at her. "You always have it with me, never doubt that."

"I don't." Anna looked around her office before bringing her tongue over her bottom lip. "With our twenty-four hour guard, it's been a little difficult to engage in our mutual recreational pursuits lately."

John's cheeks tightened into a grin that reflected the devious smirk on Anna's face. "What've you got in mind Ms. Smith?"

"That chair." Anna stood up and John followed her to the office chair. "I'd like to ride you on it."

"Is that safe?" John tested the chair and shrugged, "Seems sturdy."

"Should be. I paid quite a bit of money for it." Anna put her hands on John's chest and straddled him. "Not that I bought it with this activity in mind but I don't mind the implementation."

"We've done it all over your desk so I guess the chair was feeling left out." John bit on his lip when his fingers went to get her started but found her both without knickers and already wet, "Sweet Christmas."

"Something wrong, John?" She taunted so well, her hips grinding into his as she feigned concern with his state. "Should I get you something."

"Don't move." John warned and in a few minutes they were rocking and squeaking over the floor.

The chair rolled slightly but John jammed the leg with the wheel under the desk to get the leverage he needed. IT rocked slightly but John soon turned that to their advantage, driving Anna wild as the tilts and releases of the chair timed with his thrusts into her until she choked out her finish. John followed her soon after, holding her to him as they sat together in the chair.

"You're right." John murmured against her ear, kissing lightly there. "You belong in this office. I couldn't do that if you were the head of CPS."

"I'd love to see you try." Anna untangled them and they cleaned before thinking about leaving the office. "But I think you're right, meet with Barrow and O'Brien tomorrow. We don't want to give them too much ammunition."

They drove home together, tucked into the rear of the car while Branson drove them on a circuitous route designed to flush out those following them. But they arrived safely at John's safe house and the posse entered it together. Mary excused herself to the basement under the pretext of needing 'exercise' but Anna and John only shrugged to one another when the open door allowed for the sound of swift typing over keys.

"I'm sure my definition of 'workout' and hers are very different."

Anna shoved at John's arm, "You know what we did down there."

"So do a lot of people now that Talbot probably passed around that little part about 'big hands' to everyone I know." John settled on the sofa on the far side of the sitting room, enjoying the view through the window. "If not for the reason I have this place, it'd make a nice home and-"

Whatever else John intended on saying he never had the chance to. Glass and heat hit him before the roar did. The front part of the house exploded in a flash so bright it almost blinded John. He reached for Anna but only then realized his body was still flying through the air as if in slow motion. A motion produced by the lack of fact to his brain… or at least of facts settling.

But they settled quickly when he hit the side of the island in the kitchen hard, knocking the wind out of his twice. The first with the strike to the back of his kidneys and the second when he hit the floor. Both forces had him gasping and wheezing over the ringing in his ears that deadened every other sense. Every one except the desire to protect and find Anna in the hazy debris.

Flames licked at the wooden shards littering the floor John now crawled as his body had yet to find the energy to bear his weight. Instead, he shuffled forward, careful to offer no exposing positions that could leave him vulnerable, and called through the sounds. Sounds soon punctuated by boots.

Not the kind of boots he associated with fire service or the flying squad or even a constable. No, these were the boots of trained men who entered and pursued the contents of the now front-less house before pulling something from the rubble. John tried to move but two of the men came over to him, their knees in his back to keep him on the floor, and a barrel to the back of his neck.

"He'll see you where it all began. He'll see you were you decided to be a hero."

John tried to look up at whomever held him down but saw black in an instant when the hard metal stock of an AK-47 knocked him down again. Unconscious to everything, John tried to replay the image of what the men dragged from the rubble but it slipped further and further from his fingers until he could not be sure what he saw. But what he feared was that Green now had Anna… again.


	20. Final Verdict Part I

_The gentle lap of water lulled her almost to sleep and Anna groaned when someone spoke softly to her. Her groan turned to a purr when lips slowly moved along her skin. Moved like the whisper that floated into her ear just as teeth nipped her earlobe._

 _"Good morning."_

 _"No," She sighed, finally opening her eyes to see John. "It's not morning yet."_

 _"It is." He went back to his careful kisses, maneuvering toward her face over the edge of the tub. "All the clocks say it is."_

 _"Unless there's sunlight it's-"_

 _"Anna," His face was before hers, serious as ever. "It's morning. Remember that. It's morning."_

 _Anna frowned, "Why is it so important that I remember it's morning."_

 _"Because darling," He leaned in again, "We're not really here."_

 _She took a turn to laugh, snatching his hand from the side of the tub to tug him toward her. "You're here and I'm here and that's real enough for me so stop wasting time and climb into this tub with me."_

 _He sighed, his other hand brushing hair back from her face. "It'll only delay the inevitable."_

 _"Then let it be delayed awhile." Anna persisted and John climbed into the tub with her so they faced one another. She climbed over to straddle his legs and pushed her fingers through his hair. "I need you."_

 _"I need you too." He gave a sad smile that rang wrong in her mind. "That's why I promise I'm coming to find you. Remember that."_

 _"Like I need to remember that it's morning."_

 _John shook his head, taking her hands from his hair to kiss them, and looked into her eyes. "This is something you've got to know in your soul. It's the only way."_

 _"Only way for what?"_

 _"For you to survive."_

 _Anna sat up straight, the water making more defined waves as it hit the sides of the tub and threatened to splash free with the force of her motion. "Survive what John? What am I surviving?"_

 _"What comes next." His hands moved to her sides, caressing over her skin, "What comes after this."_

 _"I'm not dead, John." Her voice trembled. "Am I?"_

 _"No." He shook his head, "You're very much alive, I promise you."_

 _"But…" Anna closed her eyes and something, just at the edge of her conscious mind, pricked her. Like voices spoken from a distance or the vague recollection of a name for a stranger. "We were… This isn't…"_

 _"Shhhh." John shushed her with a kiss between her breasts and Anna shivered. "We're here right now. This is what you need. This'll sustain you for what comes next."_

 _"But you're not telling me what comes next."_

 _"It'll test you but you can be strong." John moved his hands to cup her face, bringing their foreheads together. "I need you to be strong."_

 _"Why?" Anna covered his hands with her own, blinking against tears threatening to fall. "What comes next?"_

 _"Pain, Anna."_

 _She brought their lips crashing together and John joined her. It was a fierce flurry of motion, sending water over the sides of the tub with each motion, but Anna would not stop. Rocking and twisting against him as her tongue sought to find deeper crevices of his mouth, Anna tried to bury her fear in their kiss, in their embrace, and in the touch of John's fingers against her. Her legs opened to take the tentative exploration and their kiss only broke when he entered her._

 _Anna's head went back, fingers clawing at John's skin to bring him closer as his kisses trailed down her neck, over her collarbones, and finally landed on her breasts. The hard, persistent suck matched his motions between her legs as each maneuver seemed carefully coordinated to bring her out of herself. To pleasure and to joy that might sustain her through the promised receipt of pain at the end of their connection. A connection Anna clung to with both hands._

 _But even as he entered her, hard and hot and throbbing despite the firmness of the joining, Anna felt him slipping away. As each thrust hit her harder, found all the spots she needed to discover maximum pleasure, sought for the minutest indications of arousal and teased them out, and his kisses covered her breasts until her body felt like a single red mark of affection, Anna lost more of him. At first she wondered if it was because her eyes were losing their sight, when his image blurred. But then the touch of his hands was more like memory. And, finally, when he vanished completely, the last thing she felt was their mutual climax._

 _Then he was gone. She sat, sated only in body but achingly empty in spirit, in the water before that too was gone. Nothing surrounded her but a darkness. One punctuated with the illusion of voices she recognized earlier. Voices that grew louder and louder until Anna lost grip on the silent haven. Lost grip on the memory… No, the manufactured moment with John._

 _Until she realized it had all been a dream._

* * *

Anna blinked her eyes and then shut them again, the light too bright for her to comprehend. Before she could fully close her eyes again, to seek retreat back to the kindness of darkness, something grabbed her chin. A splash of cold water hit her face to wake her and Anna coughed and choked through the sensation. The shock to her system made her take a moment to realize her position.

It was like John promised. Or… Like she promised herself. It all swirled and confused in a jumble in her mind as she sought her bearings. Bearings that hauntingly reminded her of the day she went to pick George up from school.

"I hope you appreciate the symmetry of this moment." Anna craned her head to see a man with auburn hair and dressed like a military man who never left the battlefield. "It took awhile to plan but I thought it would be significant."

"I'm not sure I understand." Anna managed, her voice hoarse and she coughed, sending the last droplets of water from her face while disturbing the hair stuck to it. The wet tendrils flailed around her a moment before she attempted to manage them back. "Who are you?"

"For all your research we were still just shadows to you." He held up a flashdrive, see-sawing it between his finger and thumb. "I'm honestly impressed by what you managed to find out about us. All the firewalls you broke through and all the tidbits of information you put together. Honestly, it's like a modern day conspiracy board."

"You know me, I'm guessing, and my fondness for tinfoil hats." Anna shifted and jerked at her wrists but they would not move. She titled her head down and bit back a cry of shock that turned into a hissing gasp. Her heart rate accelerated and she only dared look back at the man when he clicked his tongue against his teeth in a disapproving intonation.

"Try not to raise your heartrate. It'll speed up the timer."

Anna forced herself to breathe slowly, air catching as she coughed with her mouth closed and tried not to think about the weight hanging over her chest with bright red numbers ticking silently down as she watched. When she managed to breathe without it hitching and catching like she attempted to stop sobs, Anna risked speaking again. "What do you want?"

"To put an end to the rather awkward and invasive investigation now happening in my organization."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have had Vera Bates killed."

"Looking back on it the better way would've been natural causes but Dick… I hope you don't mind if I call him that. It's what he was and I'd hate to be untruthful in my assessments. Makes for bad battle plans when you only seek optimism." The man spoke as if to himself, or as if he always thought people were there to listen. "Dick thought natural causes would be too difficult to set up and determined we could kill two birds with one stone and get rid of that noble hero at Black Mountain but…"

He spread his hands out as if the point were obvious. "Here we are. One issue compounding into another until we're just cleaning up all the messes. Perpetual cleanup crew, that's what we are now."

"And who's cleaning up after you?"

"Good question but one I don't really have an answer for." He shrugged, walking between upturned desks as Anna's eyes surveyed the room. The one where the last man in a vest filled with explosive material had kept her. "We don't usually worry about that bit, which is why I'm so fecking irritated that I'm having to deal with all of this myself."

He crouched in front of her, his arms on his knees as he eyed her from below. Anna tensed but he shook his head. "I'm not that kind of bad guy."

"And what kind is that?"

"I don't hurt women." He stood, motioning to the vest on her chest, "Well, not physically. Things like that are for lesser men. Men who need to prove how strong they are and feel the best way to do that is to prey on the weak."

"Do I look weak to you?"

"That's my point," He tapped his temple with a finger. "It's about perception. Tell a man that crying is for girls and what do you teach him? That girls must be second-class and emotions are for pussies. Fast forward twenty years and no wonder the same kid who learned not to cry now beats women."

"Are you trying to endear yourself to me by saying I should be grateful you've not beat me?"

"No." He tapped his watch and held up a phone. "I'm killing time until your man friend gets here. I've got no one else to talk so and you're here so…"

"I thought you said you didn't abuse women."

He laughed, shaking a finger at her. "You're sharp. And you're witty, I like that. In different circumstances I might ask you on a date but…"

Anna tugged against the tape on her wrists and ankles, keeping her tight to the chair. "You'll understand, I'm sure, if I refuse your offer."

"I'm a realist." He sat back on one of the desks, sending a chair and another desk crashing to the floor without even blinking while Anna jumped. "You know they shut this place down after what happened. Didn't want to give any of the kiddies bad dreams."

"I'm sure you've got some bad dreams to go with your traumas."

He shrugged, "And you've got yours. We're all broken, Ms. Smith. It's the way of life. The only question is what we'll do with our broken parts."

"And this was your choice?"

"This was the only choice." He tapped his chest, "I was made for this."

"To strap women to chairs with bombs on their chests or take over a school full of children?" Anna nodded, "I can see the appeal and the honor in that."

"You've only seen a small range of our capabilities."

"I don't think I'm interested in a brochure, thank you." Anna winced, the hard wood of the chair digging into her ass at the angle they strapped her to the chair. "How'd you even find me?"

"I had men watching your flat and that safe house."

"It was impregnable."

He laughed, "You don't honestly think that anything's impregnable do you?"

"I trust the people who put together the security on that house."

"You shouldn't because we were all trained at the same place." He leaned back on the desk, folding his arms over his chest. "The one thing Dick actually did right was getting a camera on the place to give us the layout of all the security measures. Once we had that all we needed was help from a friend."

"The kind of friend that blew out the front of the house?"

He nodded, "You'd be surprised what you can do with a rocket launcher."

"I don't think I would be anymore."

"To each their own." He sighed and checked the phone again. "He's taking his time getting to you."

"Does he even know I'm here?"

"I'll admit the message was a little cryptic but his scores indicated he's of above-average intelligence." He dropped the phone, pulling a face at Anna. "Perhaps they were being kind and overexaggerating a bit."

"What do you even want him for?"

"To get rid of him and his pesky organization so they stop interfering our work." He opened his arms, "You'd think the world was big enough for the both of us but no, they decided that they'd be the only game in town. Forget that both of us were sanctioned by the same government and that both-"

"But you're not sanctioned, not anymore." Anna held the man's gaze. "I know they cut you loose so you're not, actually, sanctioned. You're just a rouge group of operatives who either need more therapy or to be put down."

"Been drinking the Kool-aid have you?"

"Remind me which group took over a school full of children and strapped the bomb to my chest and which one saved me."

"Ah well," He only shrugged and pushed off the desk, pacing around the room. "It's all semantic argument anyway so does it even really matter?"

"No." Both of them turned as John entered the room, gun raised. "It doesn't matter at all."

"Bates! So good to-"

But he never finished his statement. The bullet through his skull dropped him to the ground and John ignored the body to get to Anna. She sighed in relief, finally allowing herself to cry as John flicked out a knife and cut through the tape binding her. They reached for one another before a shrill buzzing echoed in their ears.

Anna covered hers as John reeled back from the noise. He caught himself on the floor, opening his jaw to cry out in pain as the noise stopped. They lowered their hands and looked down at the vest. The red numbers ticked down faster now and Anna fought to control her breathing and her heartrate so as not to encourage the swift, downward spiral.

"Henry," John grabbed for the side of his vest, the radio chattering there. "I've got a bomb strapped to Anna's chest. It's in a vest form like the ones from last time but different."

"Different how?" The voice on the other end squawked and Anna looked at John as the hand holding the knife held hers.

"It's got a timer. It started ticking faster when I reached her."

"Is there a switch on her?"

Anna held still as John completed the check and then shrugged. "There's a pad under the timer, obviously, but no other switches. There aren't even any wires I can see to cut so she's not strapped with a dead-man's switch."

"Anyone else got the trigger?"

John scrambled to the other man's body, flipping him over and ignoring everything above the neck. Anna looked away, unable to endure the man's face, and only looked back as John came back to her holding the flashdrive and the phone. "I've got a phone here and a flashdrive."

"Unless that vest has a port for it it's useless to us at the moment." There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "The phone's a possibility but I don't want to put any other men in there without being sure there aren't pressure sensors or-"

"Motion sensors." Anna turned her head and then nodded toward the desks around her in a circle. "He never crossed that line. He always stayed beyond it and-"

"I triggered it." John kept close to Anna, eyeing out the sensors and working his legs like a Russian dancer to keep crouched low but move in a circle around her to assess the sensors. "They're deactivated now. Crossing the line set the timer off."

"Then you need to deactivate the timer."

"I've not got the tools for that."

"Brute force can, occasionally work."

"Henry, these men shot a rocket into my house. They've planned for this it's not…" John gruffed and left the radio off, turning to Anna as he flicked the blade loose. "Hold still Anna."

She nodded and gripped the chair under her as John used the edge of the knife to pry open the timer. It hung from wires to knock against the vest and John leaned forward to get a look at the circuitry inside. Their eyes met and he managed a little laugh.

"What?"

"It's…" He coughed, "Rocket launcher."

Anna scoffed, trying to keep the nervous tension from her voice and failing as it shook. "That's what you're going to bring up now?"

"Last time we were in this position I seem to remember you making a few innuendos to me." John shrugged, "Thought it could lighten the mood since neither of us has bomb disposal experience."

"True." Anna sighed, "But it wasn't a helicopter. I distinctly remember that you stipulated they'd bring a helicopter to my house and blow us up."

"Instead the tore the front out of my house." John sighed, "Guess we'll just have to move in together after this."

"You're that confident I want to continue this relationship after everything that's happened?"

John shrugged again, reaching into his pocket for two pieces of gum and sticking one in his mouth before offering Anna the other. "After I save your life you'll be indebted to me. That's how this usually works in the movies."

Anna took the gum, chewing it quickly and sighing at the soothing taste of mint in her mouth. "I'll assume then that you've got a plan."

"Shunts."

"What?" John held his open, gloved, palm out and Anna spit out the mass of gum. "What are you doing?"

John removed the gum from his mouth and took the two pieces in his fingers to shove them into the device before bringing up his knife. "Praying to any and all gods that this works and I don't blow us up in a moment."

Anna grabbed his hand, stopping him. "If we're about to die then yes, you can move in with me."

"And if we live?"

Anna took her turn to shrug, "Then I guess you'll still have to move in with me. That's what you do with the people you love right?"

"Right." John grinned and sliced his knife through the wires.


	21. Final Verdict Part II

The world did not end. It did not explode. It did not even fizzle.

In the aftermath, especially the investigation into the potentially 'wrongful death' of one Alex Green, Anna sometimes wished it had. The media circus of their exploits finally hit the fan and her building was constantly plagued by reporters and journalists all hoping she felt like telling her story with copious tears and platitudes to the 'millions of readers who deserve to know the truth'. Masses of people who claimed that her private life was now of the utmost interest and importance to a public who, not even two days before, was blithely unaware of her existence and would be so after they skimmed the article that popped up on their homepages.

Sod them. No one deserved to know the truth and Anna told them all just that. And when they tried to argue, tried to fight for the right to invade her privacy, she calmly informed them they could all get stuffed and sicced the doorman on them before issuing threats of siccing other, more intimidating people on them.

They left her alone after that.

Even John had to leave her for a time. Black Mountain's interests in the Evergreen organization took a turn for the better as the death of Alex Green allowed for the complete dismantling of the network. Even Blake took a hand in the process, returning from Hong Kong to handle the clean up on his end while John and his teams went to places they could not talk about for periods of time they could not confirm and would only be released to the public with thick black lines through the important details.

But Anna found her hands full. First with getting rid of the fame seekers and those promising to write her memoirs and then with the Crown Prosecution Service determined to get her back. Barrow and O'Brien tried to get to her first, begging her to take Carlisle's job but when Mary and Branson arrested them for conspiracy to Carlisle's crimes there were, as John had promised, three new spots open at CPS that a great many people insisted Anna should take. She refused and suggested Baxter and Moseley instead.

Blood ran thicker than water when they refused as well and Anna took the special commission to find three good barristers to replace the rotten fruit on the tree. The best part being that it was a literal case of the right hand having no idea what the left hand was doing and the rot ran no further than the three of them. So Anna's attempt to vet the rest of the office proved far better than she expected and, within a month, a mutual friend of she and Mary's ran the CPS and quickly whipped the organization into shape with the help of his wife.

Anna smiled with them on the day he took the job and leaned over toward his wife during the press conference. "I would've thought he wouldn't even open the door for me after how I wiped the floor with him during those mock debates in law school. He swore to hold that grudge forever."

"Tony's not as determined as all that in the end." His wife smiled and waved to him as he searched the crowd for a moment of solace in the midst of flashing bulbs. "I offered to be up there with him but he didn't want to give anyone the impression that I'm the true power behind the throne."

"No one wants to know that kind of truth Mabel." Anna winked at the woman and they both laughed. "But you'll both do an excellent job."

"I was surprised you didn't take it for yourself."

"I can't do good there. Not with all this," Anna waved her hands a bit above her head, as if that could somehow encapsulate the entirety of the situation surrounding her. "Hanging over my head."

"You need to get away then. A nice holiday somewhere warm and far away." Mabel sighed, "We may all need one soon with the way you've set up the pins for us."

"Just doing my job."

"The true power behind the throne."

"Mabel-"

"We all know we never would've gotten here without your work." Mabel ran her teeth over her bottom lip, "Speaking of, where's the other half of your little investigative duo?"

"Someplace he can't tell me until Charles figures the work's done."

"Contracted work is always such a drag." Mabel put her arm around Anna's shoulders. "But he'll come back to you?"

"He's got nowhere else to go. He's living in my flat."

Mabel laughed, "That's one way to force his hand, blow up his house. If he can't go anywhere else then he'll come to you."

Anna laughed with her, "I'll be honest, I didn't know I wanted that until it happened… Well, after I got out of an explosive vest and could actually comprehend it all. It all fell into place after that."

"All of it?"

"Most of it." Anna turned back to watching Tony. "It's all going to be in place before I take that holiday."

"Because you'll take it with him?"

"That's the point of buying lingerie and swimwear," Anna winked at Mabel, "So someone appreciates it. Pointless to wear it if you're alone."

"Sometimes a girl just wants to look good."

"Better to look good for the person you love."

"I couldn't agree more."

Anna's life settled a bit after that. Talbot and Bertie worked out how to get the insurance back on the destroyed safe house and they gave Anna the settlement. She tried to argue that the money should go back into their organization but they ignored her request. Talbot, patting the check on her desk, leaned forward as if he wanted to tell her a secret.

"We're swimming in it a bit right now because we've got a lot of work to do so don't you worry about this." He straightened, shrugging, "Invest it in something. Or buy something. Honestly we don't care what you do with the money but it's your money and that's the end of it."

Anna took the money and invested it into Downton Primary. She bought the building and immediately set to work getting builders and an architect to inspect the property. The walk-through with the architect had them both maneuvering around detritus and other debris but eventually finding their way back to the grounds. She turned to him, nodding back toward the building.

"What do you think of the idea Mr. Strallan?"

"I think there's a lot of potential with a place like this." His left arm pointed and then gestured to the whole building. "The foundations are still fine, exceedingly so, which makes it just perfect for the kind of reconstruction you want."

"What about price?"

"There's a danger in so many open spaces, heating wise, but we could work that into the design to make it all work." His teeth grated. "It will be expensive but-"

"Money's not an object if I actually have a price."

Mr. Strallan ducked his head. "You'll have my estimates in the morning Ms. Smith, I promise."

"Thank you." Anna watched him walk away and snorted as Blake walked up to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Wondering the same about you." He pointed toward the building. "Isn't it a bit masochistic to want to buy the place where you endured enough to keep you on Dr. Hughes's couch for the rest of your life?"

"I'll not be there for the rest of my life." Anna sighed, "And it's not for me. It's for people who need it."

"If you wanted to build a half-way house-"

"It's for people like Green." Anna turned to Blake. "People who feel they're ruined for the world and need somewhere where people understand them."

"There's the VA for that. And programs through their different military divisions and other government programs that-"

"They need something else." Anna walked toward the building again, "Somewhere they're not sitting on someone's couch trying to explain sensations no one else knows how to handle."

"Anna?"

Anna peeked over her shoulder at him before standing face-to-face. "When I was taken, the first time, I went through therapy. I spoke to very nice doctors and qualified people all trying to help me get through it but I still had nightmares. I still thought about it all the time."

"And?"

"It wasn't because I was scared or because I needed to have someone to tell about my fears. It was because, for a moment, I stood on the edge of the abyss and I looked over the edge as someone else fell into it." She shook her head, "There's not a certified therapist out there who can tell me how to feel about that if I spent a thousand hours telling them."

"So this is…"

"A place for people with the same feelings and needs can tell other people, who understand them, how it all feels." Anna put her hand on the doorway. "A place for people to come and find help before it's too late."

"Military personnel?"

"Anyone. Anyone abused or neglected or troubled or doubting or frightened." Anna wrapped her arms around herself, managing a little smile. "A place for everyone, really. A place for people like me."

"I could book a room in a place like this." Blake joined her, looking into the building. "I wanted to be the first to tell you, John'll be home soon."

"What?"

"They're almost finished with their work and he's owed quite a bit of holiday, given the hours and the miles he's racked up with us." Blake winked at her, "I'm sure you could help him find a lovely way to spend his holiday."

"I think I could too." Anna nodded at Blake. "What about you? Back to Hong Kong now that it's all wrapped up?"

"No, I'm out of the doghouse." He pushed off the lintel, walking with Anna back toward their respective cars. "They've actually promoted me so I'm working as direct liaison with all of our contracted work."

"Sounds perfect for you."

"It puts me in a position to do good and make sure good is done." Blake extended a hand to Anna. "It's been a pleasure working with you on this Anna. I don't know what I would've done with you."

"Nor I you." Anna took his hand but used it to pull him into a hug, embracing him tightly. "Take care of yourself Charles."

"You know me." Blake held up his hands, getting into his car, "The left hand never knows what the right hand's doing."

Anna laughed and watched him drive away.

True to his word, Blake had John back the next day. And after a full day of kisses, caresses, and cries of pleasure, they finally got around to addressing the continual stream of suggestions about a holiday. Anna rolled toward John, drawing her finger over his chest, and grinned at him. "What do you think?"

"About?"

"A holiday."

John let out a sigh, his chest caving in so Anna could count individual ribs. "I don't know. If we go somewhere I have this feeling that we'll just end up with a shortened holiday."

"Pessimist." Anna shoved against his side. "Our demons, for the moment, are all in Hell where they belong."

"I don't know." John let his hand travel up Anna's arm. "Barrow might not do so badly in prison. He could find true love there."

"That's horrible."

"I didn't mean it in any way but romantically." John grinned at her, "Where would you want to go on this holiday everyone keeps saying we need to take?"

"Somewhere we'll be out of the way, won't need a passport, don't have to worry about vaccinations, and feels like a slice of home without being home."

"That's rather specific." John's eyes narrowed, "You've already got a plan haven't you?"

"I was thinking about Ireland."

"I like that idea." John scooted closer to her, "But first I'm going to sleep for two days and then eat, shower, and sleep for two more days."

"Why?" Anna watched him curl onto his side, moving his body around hers.

"Because if we go on holiday then we're going to need all the energy we can manage to find for ourselves." John tugged Anna next to him, kissing her. "We're going to do our best trying to wear one another out."

Anna laughed, "Alright then." She snuggled next to him, "We'll rest."

When they finally did manage to get themselves a holiday, John surprised Anna by driving them to a private airfield where a jet parked itself on a runway. He parked the car and helped Anna out before retrieving their bags as she tried to understand the jet. She pointed at it, trying to find words until all she could manage was a grunt.

"What is that?"

"I believe it's a jet." John urged her forward, managing their bags and handing them off to the man who saluted them as they started up the stairs. "Bertie lent it to me for this holiday because he, like everyone else, seems convinced we should've taken a holiday a long time ago."

"He keeps lending us his things." Anna cringed, "Doesn't his wife ever disagree with this?"

"It's not like they're his only cars or jets."

"He's got more than one of these?" Anna pointed to the jet and took to the stairs as John nodded her forward. "What's he doing with them?"

"Occasionally he uses them for our work but tends to lend them to people who need our security services." John stopped at the door, "You should probably take a look for yourself."

Anna walked into the belly of the plane and whistled at the leather sofas, the small kitchenettes, and the large television screen. She pointed to all of it before spinning a circle and putting her hands through her hair. "How much money does Bertie Pelham even have?"

"He's a smart investor so he's got a lot." John took a seat, buckling in and motioning to the chair opposite him. "Come on. Sooner we sit down the sooner we get to start our holiday."

"You mean this isn't the start of our holiday?" Anna took her seat and accepted the drinks the steward offered them. "I'm on a jet that costs more than I could make in my entire life."

"That's not fair."

"It is." Anna sighed, sipping at her drink. "Especially since I've now got that other place to keep up and get running."

John smiled at her, "I liked the idea of that place. Somewhere for people to get the friends and help they need."

"You were the one who gave me that idea." Anna lifted her glass to him, "Although I left the details of how you told me about that idea out."

"Telling someone that you had the idea during sex probably isn't the kind of detail you should include." John settled back in his chair as the plane lifted off the ground. "But I never wanted something like this anyway."

"Like a jet?"

"I'm a simple person." John sighed, "I want to be happy, to find people to be happy with me, and live my life in private."

"Good luck with that now." Anna finished her drink and waited for the sound of the seatbelt sign to turn off. "We're here because people want to know what our story is, they want all the details, and we'll never be free of these people."

"We could just change our names, take up occupations in another country, and move away as quickly as possible."

"I don't think that's the way we should do it." She set her glass to the side and released her seatbelt. "But I'd like to use this beautiful plane to our benefit."

"Our…" John's mouth fell open as Anna reached beneath her skirt to remove her knickers. "This is Bertie's jet."

"We've already discussed that." Anna took the step between them to straddle John's legs so she could lean forward to release his belt. "And it didn't stop us having sex in the back of his car."

"We sank that car in the Thames, remember?"

"Then let's not crash this the way we did the car." Anna bit her lip as she reached a hand inside John's trousers, "Although I don't think we could actually do that, do you? I mean, we're not trying this while flying the plane so we might be better off in this case."

"The people trying to kill us then aren't killing us now so I guess we're alright." John's hips bucked toward Anna's hand when she wrapped it around his growing arousal to squeeze and pull at him. "No rocket launchers."

"No rocket launchers." Anna grinned, leaning toward John for a kiss. "And no helicopters either."

"Not at this altitude."

"Then I guess we'll not ruin Bertie's jet." Anna raised herself on the sides of the chair so John could shove his trousers and pants down his legs.

"Not in that way anyway."

Anna only widened her smile and brought their lips together. John's fingers moved over her neck, holding there before shifting into her hair to steer the kiss while Anna's hand continued moving over him. Her thumb caressed and spread over his head to try and make him harder.

John broke the kiss, dragging his lips down Anna's cheek and neck, sucking red marks into her skin before helping her pull her shirt over her head. Anna tossed it away and brought John's shirt over his head as well to spread her other hand over his chest and weave her fingers through the hair there. But as her hand massaged over John's chest, her other still persisting in encouraging him harder and thicker, John's other hand slipped up her legs to her exposed core.

Anna took her turn to buck on him, her breath catching in her throat before John abandoned his touch on her. She tried to frown but John lifted them off his chair and to the sofa. He set her on the edge, helping her out of the rest of her clothes and tossing his to the side before spreading her legs wide enough to fit between them and drag his tongue over her.

Fingers digging into the leather of the sofa streaked and shrieked but John persisted. His fingers smoothed over her legs, massaging and soothing in time with the way his tongue wound her higher and higher. High enough so that his fingers entering her again left Anna no choice but to fall over the edge.

When air could fill her lungs, Anna pushed John away for his second attempt and he landed hard on the floor of the jet. The expulsion of air from his chest only gave Anna a second of pause before she perched on his legs to take him into her mouth. Seeking to replicate the motions he left as echoes on her clit and folds, Anna wrapped her tongue around him and sucked hard. John jerked and bucked under her until his fingers urged her forward from their hold on her thighs.

It took them a moment of maneuvering but Anna sank down on John, sighing as she did so. They spent a moment trying to recover their breath, holding to one another, before moving. John's hands skated over her body until his mouth took possession of her breasts. For a moment Anna remembered the dream before he found her at Downton Primary but then pulled his lips from her breasts to kiss the air from his mouth as they ground and rocked together. The reality of their joining was all that mattered now.

As they lay on the floor, spent and covered with a few of the blankets from the sofas, Anna dragged her fingers over John's chest. "I don't want you to go again."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere." Anna lifted herself to look at him, his fingers tempting her as they stroked rivulets through her hair. "I want you with me."

"I'm not going anywhere Anna." John leaned up enough to kiss her. "I promise you. I'm with you, for good and proper."

She settled next to him, her cheek settling on his chest where she could hear his heart beating while her fingers took up their previous occupation. "Good and proper. However, whatever, whenever?"

"Exactly that." His lips kissed the top of her hair. "Never doubt that I love."

She smiled into his skin and closed her eyes.

They landed at another private airfield in Ireland and John drove them to a house near the cliffs. The crash of waves boomed and sounded far below them as Anna exited the car. She walked to the edge of the cliff, her hair whipping against her face, and closed her eyes to feel it all. From the chill to the sun to the snap of the wind to the calm of the location.

When she turned back, to John, she smiled. "This is the kind of place we could escape to with those new identities you suggested."

"You'd be bored in a week."

"As long as you're here," Anna put her arms around John, hugging close to him. "I doubt I'd get bored."

"Eventually."

"Never." Anna kissed the underside of his chin. "Show me the house."

He showed her the kitchen with the stainless-steel appliances, the sitting room with the large fireplace and sofa that covered three sides of the inset to surround it, the deck that gazed out at the horizon, and the interior wood of the rustic-style. They ascended the stairs to the large master bedroom and the expansive en suite. Everything spoke of solitude, seclusion, and privacy and Anna relished it all.

That night, after dinner, they bundled together on the sofa as Anna used her toe to touch the bear-skin rug. "Do people actually still make these?"

"I think it's synthetic and for show." John waved a hand. "This whole place is kind of for show."

"Why'd you say that?"

"It's for us." John turned to her, taking her hands in his as he shifted onto the floor before her. "This is where we can go to be away from it all."

"What?"

"Because I meant what I said on the plane." John kissed her hands. "I mean for us to be together. To never be apart and have a life together, however, whatever, whenever. For good and proper."

He dug into his pocket and removed a plain gold band. "I want you to marry me, Anna. I want to make you mine forever and make myself yours."

Anna nodded quickly, her left hand shaking slightly as John slid the finger home there. She only blinked at it a moment before beaming so widely she feared her face would split before taking John's lips with hers. The force of her kiss knocked him back but John caught himself on one hand before lowering them both to the floor.

"I do." Anna whispered, when she finally broke the kiss.

"Is that what that was?" John tried to joke but kissed Anna back when she swatted at him. "Would you believe I was terrified you'd say no?"

"I was worried you'd never propose."

"Never?"

Anna shrugged, her fingers brushing over his sweater. "After your last marriage and how that ended I thought…"

"No." John whispered to her, his hand on her back to turn them so her back was against the fake bear rug. "You're nothing like her and we'll not have that kind of relationship."

"I didn't think so."

"I'm going to love you, Anna Smith, forever." John set to kissing her available skin and revealing more so he could kiss over that too. "Nothing will ever change that. Nothing and no one."

"And I'm going to love you forever." Anna held his face above hers for a moment, "Because I am yours, and you are mine."

"Because I am yours and you are mine." John set to kissing her again and Anna submitted to his dedicated seduction.

She helped them out of their clothes, opened her legs for him, and cried out both times his mouth brought her over the edge. Every brush of his tongue against her had her fingers digging into his hair to bring him closer, urge him faster, or drag him where she needed him. But both times he spun her higher than she thought she could go before letting her break into pieces.

Only then did he think about entering her. But even that he delayed so he could excite her back from the edge and set her fizzing nerves on fire when he dragged the length of him along her to soak himself with the damp already leaking from between her legs. Then he entered her and they sighed together. Sighed and moved like a single soul brought back together.

The night continued outside but the crackling glow of the fire kept them lit. It blushed John's skin golden and left a orange glow over his eyes that pricked where they sparkled and shone toward her. It dyed the tears of joy and ecstasy red for a moment as they came together and settled on the rug.

Anna's hand, the roll of metal on her finger catching on John's skin, held him close while her nails released their dig into him. His weight pressed her into the rug and the individual scrapes against her skin made themselves known but Anna ignored them. She kissed his shoulder, smiling at the thought of the burn over her back matching the drag of nails she left on his back when she came.

Their bodies shifted and both hitched their breathing as the sensitive muscles rubbed for a moment. But they settled back, staring at one another in the light of the fire, and Anna reached her hand to run over his cheek. Her ring caught the light and John turned his mouth to kiss her palm before covering her hand with his own. He smiled at her and Anna scooted closer.

"One day I'll put a ring on your finger and we'll have a matching set."

"We're already a matching set, remember." John kissed her, settling his head on his arm while the other brought her body closer. "You're the only person I've ever really wanted."

"If I had to do it over again, I'd do it all the same."

"What?" John angled his head to see her better and Anna put a finger over his lips, to silence further arguments.

"I'd do it all over again, the same way, but this time I'd find you sooner so I could love you longer."

John took a breath and shook his head. "We wouldn't be the same people in that case. I don't know if you'd love me back then."

"Maybe not." Anna settled next to him. "But we'll never have to know."

"No we won't." John lay back with her, one of his hands running over her abdomen. "But what about loving more people?"

Anna titled her head to see him, "Are you asking for children?"

"We've not been less than ambitious with the process."

Anna laughed, sighing. "Sometimes it takes people longer."

"Even longer when they're using protection."

"How about you marry me first and then worry about giving other people, who aren't me, your last name."

"Maybe I will."

Anna pushed up to kiss him. "I'd love to have your children, John Bates."

"Despite the fact some people still think I'm a murderer?"

"I tried very hard to disabuse them of that notion, I'll have you know."

"How could I forget?" John drew his finger over her lips. "My future wife is my former lawyer and she fought like a lioness for me."

"And I would again. But first," Anna moved above him. "I think we need more practice for when we have those babies."

"I'm at your service."

"And for less than a quid." Anna teased, leaning in for another kiss, "What'll become of us?"

"Good things. Good things from here on out."

"Only good things." Anna kissed him, "Only good things from here on out."


End file.
